New Study Shows Data Centers LOWER Residential Electricity Bills
For the past two years we’ve heard the same complaint on repeat: those greedy data centers are jacking up your electric bill. State legislators have introduced data center construction bans. Towns have passed moratoriums. A Gallup poll found roughly 70% of Americans don’t want a data center anywhere near them. The White House even got seven big tech companies to sign a “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” this past March. Turns out the whole premise may be backward. A new working paper from researchers at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) — Asa Watten, John Bistline, and Geoffrey Blanford — looked at the actual data from 2015 through 2024 and found data centers caused average residential electricity rates to fall. Not rise. Fall. Read More “New Study Shows Data Centers LOWER Residential Electricity Bills”
A new S&P Global Energy study (full copy below) projects U.S. LNG will become the nation’s second-largest net export industry by 2031, trailing only civilian aircraft and parts. Feedgas demand for exports is expected to double to 36 Bcf/d within five years — 25% above the prior base case — as the U.S. surpasses a one-third share of the global market. Through 2040, LNG should support 555,000 jobs annually, add $1.4 trillion to GDP, and generate $2.9 trillion in business revenues, $206 billion in taxes, and $630 billion in labor income, on more than $1 trillion of supply-chain investment. Household gas costs rise just 1.6% from 2026-2031, and new Northeast pipeline capacity could cut peak winter prices more than 20%. 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) yesterday. Using the official EIA dartboard, the STEO is the agency’s monthly best estimate of where energy prices and production will go over the next 12 months. There was a revision to the agency’s prediction about the spot price (at the Henry Hub) for natural gas in 2026 and 2027. Last month, the EIA predicted 2026 would end up with an average HH price of $3.60/MMBtu and 2027 would see an average of $3.46/MMBtu. Yesterday, the EIA revised both numbers up by a few pennies. The agency sees an average price of $3.67 this year, up seven cents from last month, and $3.49 in 2027, up three pennies. 
The International Gas Union’s 2026 World LNG Report shows global LNG trade hit a record high of 436.98 million tonnes (Mt) in 2025, up 6.3%—the strongest growth since 2022—driven by a 25.3 Mt surge in North American exports and Europe’s return as the key balancing market. Canada and Mauritania–Senegal became first-time exporters. Investment in new supply reached a six-year high. The LNG fleet grew 8.4% to 804 vessels, with 301 newbuilds on order, keeping freight rates depressed, while bunkering infrastructure expanded. Despite disruptions from the Gulf conflict that damaged infrastructure and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the IGU says LNG’s long-term demand outlook through 2035 remains intact. 
Shell, which dropped “Royal Dutch” from its name after leaving the Netherlands in 2022 due to high taxes and overregulation, is one of the world’s supermajors (oil and gas driller). Shell is also one of (perhaps THE) largest producers and vendors of LNG, or liquefied natural gas, worldwide. The company has just released its tenth annual LNG Outlook 2026 (full copy below), which highlights key trends in 2025 and hauls out the crystal ball to predict where things are heading over the next 25 years. Shell’s annual LNG outlook says shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz from the Iran war—which shut in roughly one-fifth of global monthly LNG supply—could keep 2026 global LNG trade flat if flows normalize within three months, with growth resuming in 2027. 
Global research firm Wood Mackenzie warns that a decade of cheap U.S. natural gas is ending, with Henry Hub prices—historically stuck between $2 and $4 per MMBtu—expected to approach $5 by 2035. The shift is driven by surging demand from LNG exports and AI data centers. U.S. LNG exports jumped from 0.5 Bcf/d in 2016 to 15.0 Bcf/d in 2025, with capacity expected to nearly double by 2031. Meanwhile, power-sector demand could require an additional 17 Bcf/d by the mid-2030s. Supply-side tailwinds—prime drilling acreage, cheap associated gas, and annual productivity gains—have largely run their course. WoodMac says $5 gas remains globally competitive. 
Last week was (once again) noteworthy for the Baker Hughes rig count. Although the Marcellus/Utica count didn’t budge, the national count increased by another 7 rigs. The national count has risen over the last three weeks — by 18 rigs! The new national count, 580, is also the highest the combined count has been since May 2025. The combined M-U rig count remained at 36 active rigs for the eighth consecutive week. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville, maintained its count of 55 active rigs, operating 19 more than the M-U. 
A new report from UConn’s Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, bought and paid for by the anti-fossil fuel Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (meaning it’s useless propaganda), argues that the state’s past expansion of natural gas saddled customers with costly infrastructure upgrades without lowering fuel prices. The so-called report says most of the increased gas demand went to power plants—including three new or expanded facilities—rather than heating homes. The propagandists claim that Connecticut, a net electricity exporter, supposedly “absorbed pollution costs,” while benefiting neighboring states. 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) on Tuesday. Using the official EIA dartboard, the STEO is the agency’s monthly best estimate of where energy prices and production will go over the next 12 months. There was a revision to the agency’s prediction about the spot price (at the Henry Hub) for natural gas in 2026 and 2027. Last month, the EIA predicted 2026 would end up with an average HH price of $3.50/MMBtu and 2027 would see an average of $3.18/MMBtu. On Tuesday, the EIA revised both numbers up. The agency sees an average price of $3.60 this year, up a dime from last month, and $3.46 in 2027, up a robust 28 cents. 
JobsOhio, a private, nonprofit corporation that works on behalf of the state to drive job creation and new capital investment in Ohio by attracting business, contracts its economic research to Cleveland State University (CSU) to monitor the Utica Shale industry. JobsOhio released the latest CSU twice-a-year report yesterday (full copy below). It shows that Ohio’s shale energy sector drew another $2.9 billion in direct investment between January and June 2025, pushing cumulative investment in the Utica since 2011 to nearly $117.5 billion. All private money! It’s massive. 
The experts at NGI (