Release
Friday, September 24, 1982
Contact
John Barakat
George Tenet
(202) 224-7754
(202) 224-6324
HEINZ OPPOSED TO FURTHER DECONTROL OF NATURAL GAS
Washington
Senator John Heinz (R-Pa) today said he was "adamantly
opposed" to any attempts by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to
accelerate the decontrol of natural gas, saying it could cost up to
one million jobs nationwide.
Heinz, in a letter signed by 15 senators, called such efforts
"completely contrary to the intent of Congress."
The senior Pennsylvania
senator responded to a recent Notice of Inquiry by FERC which states the
Commission's intent to possibly raise rates for "old" gas
gas committed
the price of which is currently
to interstate pipelines prior to 1977
controlled by law.
"Not only is the expressed intent of Congress to reserve any such
decision to itself," Heinz said, "but increasing the price of gas from existing
wells represents poor energy policy, since it would have serious and far
ranging impact on the nation's economy, while creating no new gas supplies."
Heinz noted his recent action to intervene on behalf of the consumers
and industrial users of Pennsylvania to force an
into the price increases
investigation by FERC
the Commission granted to the Columbia
Gas Transmission Corporation and the Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation
two pipeline companies serving Pennsylvania.
"With over 1.8 million Pennsylvania homeowners relying on natural
gas for home heating, and because industries such as steel and glass
are almost totally reliant on natural gas for industrial processes,
it is clear the increased heating costs, operating expenses, unemployment
and inflation which would result from accelerated decontrol of natural
gas would be disastrous to the people of Pennsylvania," Heinz said.
The senator said that homeowners who heat with gas would be faced
with increased costs of between $300 and $680 over the next three years,
and the cost to Pennsylvania would be between $700 million and $2 billion.
According to the Council on Wage and Price Stability, unemployment would
rise one percent and inflation could increase from one to three percentage
points.
Heinz explained that, given the critical shortages of gas during the
winter of 1977-78, which closed businesses and schools, Congress passed
the Natural Gas Policy Act. The bill sought to provide incentives for
new gas exploration while preventing drastic price hikes to
consumers by controlling old gas indefinitely.
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