CenterPoint Energy provides industry insight on Pipeline Safety Reauthorization at Senate Commerce Committee Hearing
CenterPoint Energy’s Senior Vice President Richard C. Leger testified on behalf of the American Gas Association in a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Thursday, providing valuable insight into the natural gas industry’s priorities for pipeline safety reauthorization.
“AGA member utilities like CenterPoint Energy are the ‘face of the gas industry,’ embedded in the communities they serve, and interact daily with customers and the state regulators who oversee pipeline safety locally. The distribution industry takes very seriously the responsibility of continuing to deliver natural gas to our families, neighbors, and business partners as safely, reliably, and responsibly as possible. The industry is committed to providing life-sustaining energy to the thousands of communities in our country who count on it, every second of every day of the year,” said Leger in his written testimony to the committee.
“CenterPoint Energy and AGA share the same goals as safety advocates, the public, pipeline sector industry and Congress,” said AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert. “We all want to ensure that America’s pipeline system remains the safest, most secure and most reliable in the world. We are dedicated to working with the Senate Commerce Committee and Congress as a whole to ensure timely passage of pipeline safety reauthorization and a strong and safe future for our industry.”
CenterPoint Energy is a combination electric and natural gas utility operating in Indiana, Texas, Ohio and Minnesota. Across their 4-state footprint, they operate nearly 74,000 miles of distribution main pipelines and are privileged to serve nearly 4 million customers. The utility also manages nearly 1,100 miles of transmission lines and approximately 300 storage wells.
The testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee highlighted the importance of fact-based, reasonable, flexible and practicable updates to pipeline safety regulation that build upon lessons learned and evolving improvements to pipeline safety and related programs and technology, including five high-level priorities as the Congressional reauthorization process moves forward. These priorities include the adoption of One Call program leading practices to reduce preventable pipeline excavation damage incidents, stronger criminal penalties for intentional damage to pipelines, support for the deployment of modern pipeline safety technologies, study into hydrogen-natural gas blending, authorization of a pipeline safety voluntary information-sharing program and an extension of the PHMSA reauthorization deadline in keeping with the length of time it has taken Congress to reauthorize the program since the passage of the PIPES Act of 2020.
Read the full written testimony here.