Secretary Abraham participated in the Department of Energy's first regional natural gas forum at Atlanta's Southface Energy Institute. The forum brought together representatives from consumer groups, industry and government for an open discussion on short-term solutions to the natural gas problem.

"This is not about low reserves or supply and demand imbalances," Secretary Abraham said. "This is about real people and the real problems they confront when gas prices soar. It's about senior citizens, living on fixed incomes, being forced to choose between skyrocketing heating bills or some other of life's necessities. It's about small business owners trying to keep the lights on."

Secretary Abraham stated that current stocks of natural gas in underground storage are unusually low due to a combination of cold weather in parts of the country and declines in both domestic production and net imports. At the same time, he said, demand is projected to grow 50 percent over the next 25 years.

"While we work to increase our production and storage capacity for natural gas, we must also focus on using our natural gas resources wisely," Secretary Abraham said. "Individuals, business and government can play an important role in reducing energy use."

The Atlanta meeting was the first of several regional forums to be held across the country as part of the Secretary's Smart Energy campaign, announced on July 9. Campaign activities include the Energysavers.gov website which educates consumers on specific steps they can take to conserve, a letter from the Secretary to all 50 governors with recommended actions that states can take to improve the natural gas situation, and public service announcements available on the Energysavers.gov website for use by radio stations throughout the country.

-DOE-