WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) spoke out against increasing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a time when more natural gas is desperately needed in Maine and across New England to help lower energy prices.

While the committee considered the LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act, a bill to streamline the permitting of facilities to export LNG, Senator King criticized the idea of sending additional natural gas abroad while demand for the fuel, particularly in New England, remains so high. He also questioned why the United States would willingly give away one of its sole economic advantages – lower energy prices – to international competitors when it could benefit the country.

“I’m good with regulatory reform. I like bills that generally lay out clear regulatory guidelines and time. I’m also good with natural gas – so good with it in fact that I don’t want to blow an advantage that this country has,” Senator King said. “I have been to factories and looked in the eyes of people who have lost their jobs to Asia, to other parts of the world, to Mexico – and they looked at me and said, ‘How did you let them ship my jobs away?’ We have no advantage on wages. We have no advantage on labor protections. We have no advantage on environmental protections. We have today an advantage on energy costs. I cannot understand this discussion that will inevitably lead to higher energy costs.”

The United States maintains a strong economic advantage in energy prices with natural gas currently costing approximately $3 per million British thermal units at the benchmark while prices in Asia are around $10 and consistently remain well-above that mark. Economic and scientific studies almost unanimously conclude that increasing natural gas exports will also increase the domestic price of natural gas.

Additionally, those prices are in stark contrast to New England, which paid an average price of $24.50 during January 2014. That’s why Senator King has been a strong supporter of expanding natural gas pipeline capacity in New England in order to help lower energy costs. Earlier this month, Senator King, along with other members of the New England delegation, urged FERC in a letter to expeditiously review Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project, which would usher more natural gas into the region and help to relieve Mainers of high energy prices during a bitterly cold winter.

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