Washington, D.C. – A coalition of energy stakeholders – including the American Gas Association, the Natural Gas Supply Association and the Edison Electric Institute – today issued an array of recommendations they say would help mitigate the impact of natural gas price increases on consumers.

Several of the recommendations have already been mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which was passed by Congress in July and signed into law by President Bush in August. In four instances, the group urged implementing specific provisions in the law they say will ease the impact of rising gas prices on the poor and homeowners, will encourage new natural gas storage capacity and will educate the public on energy efficiency measures.

Chairman Domenici noted that the group’s recommendations relied, in part, on the implementation of the energy bill and offered this assessment of the Administration’s progress:

“I am generally pleased by the strong effort I have seen from several federal agencies to implement the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Let me cite a few examples. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued all of its final rules on time. The Environmental Protection Agency used the waiver provision in the energy bill to help sustain gasoline supplies in the aftermath of the Gulf hurricanes. The EPA has also begun the considerable work involved in implementing the ethanol provision. I expect the EPA to issue the proposed rule within the deadline set by the energy bill. The Department of Energy has codified all the appliance standards in the energy bill and has begun work on regulations aimed at reducing gas consumption by federal fleets.

“The energy bill is a vast bill and there is a lot more work to be done, but we’re making strong progress. I anticipate holding some hearings in the spring to review that progress and see where improvements can be made.”