This excerpt is taken from an article originally posted in Forbes. See the original article here
The Marcellus is the foundation of lowered energy and electricity prices for families and businesses across the entire country. The Marcellus is the heart of why our natural gas prices aren’t expected to come anywhere close to the high prices that we saw pre-shale days.
Up from virtually nothing a decade ago, Pennsylvania now accounts for 20% of all U.S. natural gas. The Marcellus is the driving force behind America’s projected 40% increase in gas production by 2040.
Indeed, more pipelines and the rising ability of Pennsylvania to export is crucial, now able to export 11-12 Bcf/d. Since 2006, U.S. gas demand in the power sector has surged from 17 Bcf/d to 27 Bcf/d.
Nationally, gas is rising from being almost 45% of total U.S. generation capacity to soon being 50%. There’s 90,000 megawatts of new gas coming online over the next few years, a 20% rise or so in current gas capacity. By 2022, some 35 U.S. states will rely on natural gas as their primary fuel for electricity. Indeed, gas-based, importing states like California and especially nearby New York and those of New England owe a debt of gratitude to The Giving State (and of course to The Lone Star State).
