We are talking about activity 100 miles or more offshore that will not be seen, heard or smelled. No tankers, no barges, no spills. I live in a coastal state and I appreciate the need to protect our beaches, but this is no threat.

The average residential customer is paying roughly twice as much for natural gas as he did in 1999. These high prices strain the budgets of all homeowners and, even worse, many low-income households must choose between heat and other life necessities.

Prices will come down only when we increase the supply of natural gas in the marketplace to meet the growing demand for our product.

We accept full responsibility. Our inability to timely respond to our customers is unacceptable.

In fact, higher natural gas prices hurt our business. We want what our customers want: adequate supplies at affordable prices.