Energy and Environment Energy at Work


Like other forms of infrastructure, America’s energy infrastructure is a key driver of job creation, growth and competitiveness throughout the economy. Maintaining a modern, flexible and secure network of electric power transmission and distribution lines, oil and natural gas pipelines, and storage facilities is essential to delivering affordable and reliable energy to U.S. businesses and consumers, promoting growth across all sectors of the economy, and supporting the country’s thriving domestic energy industry.

Energy @ Work

America's energy infrastructure is a key driver of job creation, growth and competitiveness throughout the economy. 

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Unlike other forms of public infrastructure, American energy infrastructure is largely privately owned, operated and financed. The major obstacle for transportation infrastructure renewal — funding — is not a significant problem for energy infrastructure. Until quite recently in fact, privately financed U.S. energy infrastructure renewal has been an American success story. However, technology and policy drivers are rapidly changing the way energy is produced and consumed in the United States, requiring a faster pace of investment and modernization.

Currently, the regulatory framework and permitting systems that surround the energy sector were designed for another age, locking in a pace of infrastructure modernization and expansion that is out of step with the energy sector’s rapidly changing needs. Congress and the Administration have a unique opportunity to accelerate investments in energy infrastructure by updating regulations, establishing strong investment incentives and streamlining permitting processes — ultimately putting more private-sector capital to work for America’s farms, factories and households.

Electricity Infrastructure

The entire U.S. electricity system is experiencing nearly unprecedented change, including slower load growth, retiring traditional baseload capacity, declining costs and increasing deployment of renewable and distributed energy resources, policy changes at the state and federal levels, and rapidly evolving technology. These changes are transforming how end-use customers and electric companies interact.

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Natural Gas Infrastructure

Advances in drilling and resource extraction technologies have made natural gas one of the fastest growing energy resources in the United States. The abundance of natural gas offers an opportunity for the United States to strengthen its energy independence and security, while providing nearly all sectors of the economy an affordable energy source and feedstock. Substantial investments in natural gas infrastructure — including pipelines and storage and export facilities — are needed to fully capitalize on the benefits that this affordable, abundant domestic energy source has to offer.

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Oil Infrastructure

The ability to produce, refine and transport oil is essential to U.S. economic competitiveness. Following several decades of steady decline, U.S. oil production has risen sharply since 2008, presenting a remarkable opportunity to improve the nation’s energy security, support increased industrial activity and make energy more affordable for American households. However, significant infrastructure investments must be made to fully leverage the benefits and opportunities afforded by abundant domestic oil resources.

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The Permitting & Regulatory Landscape

Energy infrastructure is subject to a complex regime of regulatory, permitting and siting requirements at all levels of government. Actions taken by the current and previous Administrations have made meaningful inroads toward simplifying this complex regulatory landscape and reducing the regulatory burden.

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