America’s Industrial Edge Is Fueled by Natural Gas
For most of the past 80 years, America’s industrial base has been a quiet force multiplier for U.S. strength and prosperity. After the Cold War, many have treated that advantage like a permanent feature of the landscape rather than as something that requires maintenance. In an era of industrial reshoring, supply chain constraints and rising demands of new technology, this attitude is clearly no longer sustainable.
American industrial capacity matters for our national security and global stability. That means strengthening critical supply chains, expanding manufacturing capacity and ensuring the defense industrial base can surge in a crisis. The good news is that these aims are achievable in a way that fits American markets and American communities, anchored by an energy system that is reliable, flexible and built to serve customers every day. It starts with natural gas and the infrastructure that moves it.
Industrial growth is not just about new plants and new jobs. It is about steady, around-the-clock energy that can power heavy equipment, run high-temperature processes, and keep production lines moving through heat waves, cold snaps and storms. It is also about feedstock. Natural gas is essential to the chemicals that become medical supplies, pharmaceuticals and countless manufactured goods, as well as the fertilizer that supports American agriculture.
When it comes to expanding domestic capacity, energy is foundational. More than 189 million Americans and 5.8 million businesses use natural gas because it is affordable, reliable and safe. America has a 2.8-million-mile underground pipeline network that reaches the regions where American industry already lives and where new facilities are being sited. That existing system is a major competitive advantage: It is the kind of built asset that makes it easier to add production without having to reinvent everything from scratch.
It is also an asset that is continually maintained and improved. America’s natural gas utilities invest $37 billion each year to enhance the safety of distribution and transmission systems. That is the foundational work that makes the rest possible: modern pipe replacement, advanced leak detection, system monitoring, workforce training and the constant, disciplined focus that keeps energy delivery dependable.
Reliability is vital for manufacturing. When a plant goes down unexpectedly, it is felt not just as lost output but as missed shipments, delayed contracts and disrupted supply chains. With only 1 in 650 natural gas customers experiencing a planned or unplanned outage each year, the natural gas system is ideally positioned to support the kind of continuous operations modern industry requires.
Domestic energy policy and domestic industrial policy are fundamentally inseparable. American-made steel, chemicals, building products and advanced manufacturing requires the safe, affordable and reliable energy that only natural gas can provide. To attract the next wave of investment in data centers and high-tech production, America needs energy that can scale quickly and run consistently. Natural gas and the utility systems that deliver it make that possible, giving America a practical, durable edge in rebuilding manufacturing.