Moniz sees progress, but not enough, in energy landscape

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is receiving a lot of attention for his involvement in U.S. negotiations with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program. Helping Secretary of State John KerryevaluateIran's nuclear capability and the potential for an enforceable agreement is undoubtedly one of the weightiest assignments of Moniz's career.

But occurring at the same time for the 70-year-old physicist is a major new report that, until his Iran role, appeared likely to be the crowning achievement of his tenure at the Department of Energy.

The "Quadrennial Energy Review," modeled after a long-standing government assessment of U.S. defense needs, attempts to describe more clearly than ever the condition of the nation's energy infrastructure, including millions of miles of pipelines and power lines as well as other facilities that provide oil, natural gas, electricity and other forms of energy.

"It's not a sky-is-falling kind of report," Moniz cautioned in an interview with USA TODAY. "Overall, we havegoodinfrastructure; it's reliable. But the report points out that a lot of it is, in fact, quite old and in need of renewal."

"Quite old" seems like an understatement, considering the age of some infrastructure, like that for moving natural gas. Nearly 50% of the U.S. gas transmission and gathering pipelines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, a build-out that responded to the thriving post-World War II economy.

The report estimates that industry investments in interstate gas pipelines will range between $2.6 billion and $3.5 billion a year between now and 2030. That doesn't include the cost of replacing old cast-iron and steel pipes in local gas distribution systems, which the analysis estimates will total $270 billion.

Significantly, the infrastructure needs are driven not only by risks associated with aging facilities but also by sweeping changes in the U.S. energy landscape. Just recently, for example, the nation has become the world's leading producer of oil and natural gas combined and seen its dependence on foreign oil fall to its lowest level since 1971.

The composition of U.S. energy supply is shifting, too, with petroleum consumption flat and coal consumption declining, while the use of natural gas and renewable energy is growing.

"We're in the middle of some kind of revolution in the energy system," Moniz said. "We are seeing a lot ofchange, and oil and gas is one aspect of it. But the whole electricity sector is changing a lot, too, both on the opportunity side and the challenge side."

All told, trillions of dollars will be needed to replace old facilities and build new ones that meet shifting energy patterns, such as shipments of oil and gas from recently tapped shale formations in North Dakota and Pennsylvania, delivery of wind power from the Plains states to major metropolitan areas, and equipment that can withstand extreme weather andcyberattacksand recover from them.

Are U.S. energy companies and consumers willing to pay the price for a modern energy system?

"Some will be surprised by the level of investment going on in many ways," the secretary said, noting industry investments in gas transmission pipelines and electric power lines.

Among the major new undertakings is the $2.2 billion Champlain Hudson Power Express project, which will carry hydropower from Canada to New York City. The 333-mile project received its final government permit as the DOE report was being released.

"Having said that, there are also lots of areas that have not received that kind of attention," Moniz added. "What I hope we can provide with this QER and the ensuing discussion is a higher-level look at how all of this hopefully can be guided into a coherent system that addresses all of the needs."

Loveless – @bill_loveless on Twitter – is a veteran energy journalist and television commentator in Washington. He is a former host of the TV program Platts Energy Week.