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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 O C T O B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 6 PRESEN T ING SP ONSORS To make a Donation to the Next List Alumni Scholarship Fund through the Maine Community Foundation, visit mainecf.org and click on mainecf.org and click on mainecf.org Make a Gift. Mainebiz invites you to network with the future. Tickets are $40 and the price of ticket includes 1 free drink! The Woodlands Club 39 Woods Road, Falmouth November 3 5:00–7:00pm For more information and to register, visit mainebiz.biz/next FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #MBNext16 ELAINE ABBOTT TOM ADAMS BRIAN CORCORAN MELIK PETER KHOURY DREW LYMAN CHARLOTTE MACE JAMES MCKENNA EMILY SMITH LUCAS ST. CLAIR SEAN SULLIVAN U .S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, has joined 11 Democratic senators in calling on the U.S. Department of Energy to put the brakes on expanding liquefi ed natural gas exports. In their Sept. 21 letter to DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz, King and his Senate colleagues reiterated their misgivings about the Energy Department's accelerating approval of LNG exports to other countries, asserting that continuing to do so will "disproportionally harm domestic industries like the agricultural, electricity and paper, pulp and primary metal manufacturing sectors that will suff er from higher natural gas and electricity prices." "We ask that the DOE slow its approval process until the full impacts of currently approved exports are realized," the senators stated in their letter. "In total more than 60% of 2015 natural gas production has been approved for export, but only a small fraction of that has actually been exported to date. We believe it would be prudent for the DOE to fi rst evaluate the impacts of approved projects, especially as new export terminals come online, before approving additional LNG exports." In a statement accompanying the letter, King brought the issue home to Maine by making two points: 1. Increasing exports of LNG to foreign countries is counter-productive when more natural gas "is desperately needed in Maine and across New England to help lower energy prices." 2. e United States "would be giving away one of its sole economic advantages to international competitors when it could benefi t the country." e fi rst of King's concerns is tied to the increas- ing role that natural gas plays in the generation of New England's electricity. According to ISO-New England, the nonprofi t corporation responsible for keeping electricity fl owing across the six New England states, 48.5% of the region's electricity is generated at natural gas-fi red power plants. In 2000, natural gas fueled just 15% of the region's electricity. Natural gas's role in electricity costs ISO-New England projects that the importance of natural gas as a fuel source for electricity generation will continue to grow, in part due to the closures of older and more costly oil- and coal-power and nuclear power plants as well as the region's relative proximity to the natural gas supply from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and New York. Nearly 60% of all new pro- posed power plant construction as of August 2016 will rely on natural gas, according to ISO-New England. But there's a hitch, as ISO-New England states in its primer: " e region hasn't added natural gas pipeline capacity, despite the tremendous growth in natural-gas-fi red generating capacity, coupled with growing demand from the heating sector. e result is that existing pipelines are now running at or near maximum capacity at times, particularly in winter. During these times, gas-fi red resources may have to pay high prices for fuel — if fuel is available at all." ISO-New England's primer also gives some credence to the concerns expressed by King and the other senators about expanding LNG exports, stating "international LNG deliveries into New England are variable, and because it is traded glob- ally, pricing varies and can be expensive." King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also has introduced two pieces of legislation to ensure the U.S. doesn't increase LNG exports at the expense of Maine consumers and industries: 1. e Domestic Energy Security Protection Act, which would cap the amount of natural gas exported from the U.S. to help preserve the country's advantage in the market and ensure adequate supply is available domestically. 2. e Regional Gas Consumer Protection Act, which would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider regional markets and evaluate benefi ts to regional consumers when it reviews any proposal to export natural gas. P O L I T I C S & C O. B Y J A M E S M C C A R T H Y Sen. King seeks to curb rapid expansion of LNG exports

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