Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association President Ed Longanecker says natural gas is the key to Texas’ and the nation’s abilities to meet the future demand for power.
“Electricity demand is expected to surge in the coming years driven by a massive build-out of data centers to power artificial intelligence and the broader electrify-everything movement,” Longanecker said from Austin. “Data centers alone could drive over 10 billion cubic feet per day of gas demand through 2030.
“An expansion of dispatchable energy sources and related investment in the United States is critical to meet the growing demand.”
He said natural gas will continue to play a dominant role in providing a reliable baseload supply for decades to come under any realistic scenario and that to say otherwise would be naïve.
“We must invest in domestic oil and natural gas production and related infrastructure or become captive to other countries for our energy needs, causing further strain to our economy and an erosion of our national security and quality of life,” Longanecker said. “For example a single natural gas plant that produces 1,000 megawatts of energy is enough to power 500,000 homes. Because renewables are intermittent you need a generating mix of wind, solar and battery of 9,000 MW to be able to provide an equivalent reliability.”
Additionally, he said, thousands of acres will be needed for each generating source.
“Further, from mining, transportation, manufacturing, construction and transmission to maintenance, renewable energy simply cannot exist at commercial scale without fossil fuels, not to mention the total monopoly in China over the supply chain of minerals and metals,” Longanecker said.
“These realities are not optional, and if left unchecked, the potential consequences should concern all consumers.”
Fortunately, he said, the nation is starting to see a shift in market dynamics to address the projected energy demand following many failed experiments, rising geopolitical conflicts and persistent inflationary pressures.
“Some of these realities are also growing in prevalence with an increasing number of renewable energy project cancellations around the world,” Longanecker said.
