Coffee with Jim and James - Episode 181 Live @ Natural Gas Association of Georgia

[00:00:24] Speaker A: Allegedly. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Allegedly. It's a bevy of acronyms that we need to know in this industry, James. Sometimes I'm just. It's like a plethora of things that we need to know. But the one thing that we do, and we do it well, is we have lots of friends that'll fill in the gaps. Fill in the gaps. [00:00:50] Speaker A: I made you friends today. [00:00:51] Speaker B: So did I. I did make new friends today at the wine smelling. They were tasting. I was smelling the wine smelling. People were cracking up. [00:01:03] Speaker A: I woke up this morning and I had imposter syndrome with my golf game. And I was like, I can't play on this course. It's too good. [00:01:09] Speaker B: Oh, no. [00:01:10] Speaker A: And I had basically talked myself out of plane by the time I woke up. Yeah. [00:01:18] Speaker B: And at seven something in the morning, you were still in the same boat. And you're like, maybe I might if it's a scramble or whatever. And then all of a sudden you get out there, James, you get to the driving range and poof, 500. Poof, 600. Poof, 700. I mean, feet. [00:01:34] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it was great. Great. Back to back waves. I'm telling you what, I'm getting spoiled. [00:01:43] Speaker B: You are getting spoiled. The Broadmoor last week. This week, Chateau et Laon golf extravaganza. It's beautiful here. [00:01:51] Speaker A: It's fancy. We are live here in Georgia at the Natural Gas association out Georgia industry summit. [00:01:59] Speaker B: Yes, that is it. We are here, our good friends. I think this goes back a year. Rodney Dill kind of paved the way to have us come into this and has loaded up. There was just. [00:02:12] Speaker A: There was a disaster in the hall just now. We won't talk about it. [00:02:16] Speaker B: We will not. [00:02:17] Speaker A: We will not speak of it again. [00:02:19] Speaker B: Second time, it was almost a safety moment, but it wasn't. [00:02:22] Speaker A: That box is obviously flawed. Beautiful property again this week. Can't beat it. Springtime in Georgia. [00:02:32] Speaker B: Oh, it's gorgeous. I mean, it was 44 degrees this morning, you know, up close to 70 in the afternoon. And again, this is optimum. I mean, if this was it year round, I don't think anybody would ever leave Georgia. It was absolutely beautiful. [00:02:48] Speaker A: You were just saying by invite I. We ran into Rodney Beale. It was an APGA event, Scottsdale, Arizona. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Yes. [00:02:58] Speaker A: And had him on. Talked to him again a little bit later, talked to him again. And then here we are. He called us up and said, you guys want to come to Georgia? And how do you turn that down? [00:03:09] Speaker B: Oh, and for me it's funny because as I fly all the time out of Palm Beach, I fly Delta and I'm in Atlanta pretty much lately, every week, sometimes two or three times a week. And this time it was a one trip flight into Atlanta. And then it threw me because I didn't know what to do. I know the inside of the terminal because I can hop planes as quick as anybody. But this time I had to get a rental car. And let me tell you, you get a rental car at Atlanta airport, you better be on your game. You got to be paying attention, because you're on a train ride for about 14 minutes, maybe not that long, and then coming back to get you. But you know what? It was beautiful. It was. It was a great day. It was a great drive up. And I'll tell you, talk about this property here being serious. Chateau lawn. Absolutely gorgeous. And last night, I know we were beat. We were tired and went to our rooms and, you know, compared. I showed you some sunset pictures. It's absolutely stunning here. Absolutely stunning. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Yeah, I didn't expect it. I don't know why, but I didn't. Lots of good friends here this week. I just saw Mike Jewell walk in. Look at him. [00:04:13] Speaker B: Oh, look at him. [00:04:14] Speaker A: They will let anybody in, that's for sure. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Be positive. I'm just gonna say one thing. It's on my LinkedIn. B for be positive. That man right there, it's with me. [00:04:27] Speaker A: We're live. Sorry. This is how we roll. We're gonna be here. It's just one day short. Yes, we're here tonight. Gonna open this thing up at the reception, and then tomorrow, all day. And then we're speaking tomorrow as well. Again, proof they'll let anybody in here. So it's gonna be good. Back to be great with you, my friend. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Always, brother. [00:04:46] Speaker A: Always be bringing some people on and let you know the good things happening in Georgia. Hey, we'll be back. [00:04:53] Speaker B: We'll be back. [00:04:56] Speaker A: Let's address the elephant in the room. All three of us are on this agenda. It must be hurt. I'm just kidding. No, we are a wealth of knowledge. [00:05:07] Speaker C: And we're after lunch, too, so save the. No, save the best for last. [00:05:14] Speaker A: What are y'all talking about? [00:05:15] Speaker C: What are we talking about? [00:05:16] Speaker A: Working about associations working together. [00:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. So I think for us, APGA and AGA, we're at the national level, and I think Rodney just felt like it was important for the state association, which the Natural Gas association of Georgia, which we're at, to hear what we're working on, but then also, like, figure out how to work together. And so I think it'll be kind of neat. Yeah. When and how to make it better. Yeah. [00:05:46] Speaker A: So we are here live. Yeah. Before we get too. [00:05:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:50] Speaker B: With our really good friend. Before we get too far, because I have a couple points I want to bring up. Would you please introduce yourself and tell a little bit. [00:05:56] Speaker C: Yes. So Stuart Salters, vice president, Montgomery relations at the American Public Gas association. So y'all know our members well, but for those out there that don't, we represent the municipal utilities around the US. So there's about 700 of them, 38 states. So everywhere from Disney World to Alaska. [00:06:16] Speaker B: Well, I was hot quiz. Go ahead, please do it. [00:06:21] Speaker C: All right. [00:06:21] Speaker A: How many municipalities in Georgia do you know, roughly? [00:06:25] Speaker C: Yeah, there's a lot. I think like 80 seems, I mean, I know that seems high, but like, you know, when you think municipality, like, it's the smallest cities to the biggest cities. So all the cities that are around. [00:06:40] Speaker B: The state, I know MGAG, the gas authority, has, I think, 81 members, but now they've actually started to reach outside of Georgia. So I think that's why they also changed the name of the gas authority. But that's exciting that we at Energy Worldnet and our day jobs are starting to work more closely with them. [00:06:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:57] Speaker B: But I have to say though, Stuart, again, a compliment to you for you being here. One, James, we've been running nonstop as you know. You know, we stood you up two or three times. We have. [00:07:07] Speaker A: I'm here to be on the show. [00:07:08] Speaker D: I'm sorry. [00:07:09] Speaker C: Next. [00:07:11] Speaker A: We'll get to you anytime, Stuart. [00:07:13] Speaker B: I think we had a phone call or a teams call, you and I. He was busy. We were just catching up and excited that you were going to be here when we understood that our connecting, so to speak. And I'm going to be in Naples in a couple of weeks myself. But I'll tell you though, kudos to you and APGA because not only here, we see you on the road and especially my home state, finga, you were in St. Augustine helping the gas association as well as the municipality members there, too. And again, kudos to you for doing that because that message, I can't tell you enough when people afterwards say, remember that time last time when we had that vice president from APGA here? Yep. And I'm like, Stuart, they're like, yeah, you took the time to come here to see us. And that really means a difference because that is where the rubber hits the road here. And I think this is a great thing. I'm on a soapbox now, but just let me go. One thing about this is that we have, we had the municipalities here as well as the investor owned. And again, the collaboration between the two. [00:08:11] Speaker A: It's very nice to see. [00:08:12] Speaker B: Yeah. So I just had to say that a lot of that. [00:08:16] Speaker C: Well, we enjoy it. I mean, I think I, you know, we enjoy getting out there, seeing folks. I think we talked. Sorry, where's your tangent card? We need your tangent card. I'm gonna take it. No, but I mean, it's an exciting time, especially for the public utilities because the department of Transportation, PHMSA, the pipeline safety regulator, was given grant funding from Congress. 2 million a year. [00:08:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:45] Speaker A: Already some awesome folks I see. Getting rewarded. [00:08:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:48] Speaker A: And you're just getting started. [00:08:50] Speaker C: Yeah, it's excited. It's an exciting time. Busy time. Yeah, for sure. But. But definitely a fun time to give to see these folks that need the funding. Get the funding. I mean, you're talking about little towns. I grew up in a little town, so I can say that. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I can claim it. [00:09:09] Speaker C: But, yeah. Little towns and rural parts of our country getting just millions of dollars and. [00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:09:17] Speaker C: To do and to keep people safe, to keep the energy flowing. [00:09:21] Speaker B: Yes. It's so unsafe for context. [00:09:26] Speaker A: I mean, I just want to reframe this because you came on the show. [00:09:30] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. [00:09:33] Speaker A: You talked about that program and we pointed people, so I think we did all that. [00:09:38] Speaker C: Yeah, that's true. Congress didn't do anything. [00:09:43] Speaker A: But truth is, that was some of the awareness that started it and some of these folks worked with you guys and others to. To go after some of those funds. And here we are and reaping the benefits of. Yeah, it's so neat to see kind of the full cycle. [00:09:57] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. [00:09:58] Speaker B: That's a very good point. And another point, too. I think we're in year two of that. Or is it year three? [00:10:03] Speaker C: Year two. [00:10:03] Speaker B: So there's still time for other folks that are just hearing this right now to look at year three and four. [00:10:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:08] Speaker B: Because again, it was. [00:10:09] Speaker A: His phone number is 202. [00:10:15] Speaker B: I stopped. [00:10:16] Speaker C: Oh, did we break now? I mean, I think, you know, and you know, I'm the government relations guy, so I. [00:10:25] Speaker A: Obviously. Biased. [00:10:26] Speaker C: Well, well, I'm just. What I'm about to say is trying to put it in context because I don't want to give anybody too much hope, but don't want to give anybody too much, you know, not hope. [00:10:36] Speaker E: Not. [00:10:36] Speaker C: Not hope. Yeah, yeah. But my colleague Erin Carilla, who's been on the show, too, she works more with FEMSA, and so she's really the one running point for us on this whole kind of collaboration with FEMSA, getting the grants out. But it is a five year grant program, a billion dollars. So 200 million. [00:11:00] Speaker B: Okay. [00:11:01] Speaker C: You were. [00:11:01] Speaker B: I'm sorry, I was thinking 250. [00:11:03] Speaker C: Yeah, you're good. But. But that's the thing, is they actually brought forward money from future years to give out this year, and so actually gave out 400 million this year. And so, obviously, you do the math, like, well, what happens in year five? [00:11:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:20] Speaker C: So we're hoping that this will be a program that we can continue to be, you know, kind of keep funding, keep going. And that's where I think, from a government relations standpoint, we would love to see that. We're having conversations about that, but just recognizing the realities that some in Congress have with government funding and some kind of reservations about that, we're just trying to be, you know, strategic in how we have that conversation. And I think showing the value, like seeing these small towns in rural parts of the US, upgrading their system, making them safer, making them less leak prone, like, that's what we want. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, from that perspective, we're looking at a little green initiative. Absolutely. So it is a safety factor and such like that. A lot of these smaller municipalities, even the medium sized ones, are struggling right now. They could be struggling. This could be a huge thing to help them to make that next step for reducing greenhouse emissions and safety. The same swap. [00:12:21] Speaker F: Sorry. [00:12:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I was gonna. [00:12:24] Speaker B: What did you guys do? [00:12:26] Speaker C: Well, I didn't want to step on anybody's toes, but, you know, one of the things. Sorry. One of the things we like to talk about that differentiates us from the investor owned utilities is that local control, you know, that. You know, you're. The person working on your gas meter is the one you. Your kids play baseball together, you go to church together. And so when you think about the cost to maintain these systems, it's expensive. And so, you know, I'm all for natural gas staying in business, and even if it means an investor owned utility buys a public utility. But at the same time, you are losing out on some of that benefit of having that public utility kind of stay and maintain their operation in the city. And so this grant fund does a lot to preserve public utilities and their role in the value chain. [00:13:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:15] Speaker B: And some of that heritage, too. I take it to that. Next. Some people are, you know, not just first, but second or third generation families that have worked for that municipality. [00:13:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:25] Speaker B: I tell you, there's a lot of pride in that. [00:13:27] Speaker A: And it's what makes me think of Jimmy Green. [00:13:29] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Yeah. That story he tells and just that heritage and anger this year and that. The theme. He talks about that very thing. And as we start taking. Taking those things away, it's a little bit different. But y'all have a seat at the table, too. No, but it's true. Yeah, we. That's some of the neat work going on here in Georgia, I think you probably witnessed. Have you been to this event? [00:13:55] Speaker C: I have not. [00:13:56] Speaker B: It's our first time, too. [00:13:57] Speaker A: You could tell even last night. It's just. It's a great group doing good things. And they're sitting should. Working it out. [00:14:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:05] Speaker A: Kudos to that. Anybody out there rumbling and having those conversations? [00:14:09] Speaker B: And a few, like you mentioned a couple times yelling amen at the back of the room. [00:14:13] Speaker A: I can't wait to speak to brother. [00:14:16] Speaker B: They're either gonna kick us out tomatoes or amen. You know, we're either gonna get one or the other. [00:14:21] Speaker A: Well, I know we all gotta get on stage. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Thank you, brother, for stopping by. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Always, brother. [00:14:25] Speaker A: You're the best. Aaron. [00:14:27] Speaker B: We miss your road trip. [00:14:30] Speaker A: We'll be back. Didn't know you were gonna get a special treat. [00:14:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:37] Speaker A: I tell you what, Jim's our onboarding. [00:14:40] Speaker C: Specialist for All Things podcast. [00:14:44] Speaker B: That's the camera up there. These are our mics. They're super good, so you don't have to jump in. And I have to tell you, though, Rodney James and I were talking about this. We do this all the time. [00:14:55] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:14:55] Speaker B: All over the place. [00:14:56] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:14:57] Speaker B: And we are blessed to do it. I mean, to be bringing back industry stories. [00:15:01] Speaker F: Yeah, sure. [00:15:02] Speaker B: So, first and foremost, for you to really be the cog that got us here, to be honest with you. Thank you so much. One, because far, I mean, it was great. The stories we're bringing back, I mean, far exceeded even our thought process, which is great. And then two, I have to tell you, you as an individual, did one of the best jobs, and I'm being very sincere about this, about getting people lined up to be on the show. Nobody. Nobody has done it better than you. And I just wanted to say that. [00:15:31] Speaker A: We have a position available. We'd like to offer. [00:15:36] Speaker F: Twice the salary. [00:15:38] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:15:39] Speaker F: Well, listen. Yeah, let me just say upfront, too, that having Jim and James here at the Natural Gas association of Georgia vent has just added a. A complete dimension, new dimension. Great dimension to this. To this summit. And so, yeah, it's just been incredible. Been incredible. [00:15:58] Speaker A: We appreciate the invite. What a beautiful facility. Oh, yeah. Y'all plan the weather perfectly. [00:16:04] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:16:05] Speaker F: Chamber of commerce. [00:16:06] Speaker A: Weather. [00:16:06] Speaker F: Chamber of Commerce, weather. [00:16:08] Speaker A: We are live at the Natural Gas association of Georgia. Rodney, I know you were instrumental. I heard from some people and this entire association kind of getting started back in the day. What inspired you to get started? [00:16:24] Speaker F: Well, it's just that as we recognized other state associations and just how they were voiced within their state, we just recognized that was a void here in the state of Georgia. And so while we're a young association. [00:16:38] Speaker B: Ten years. [00:16:39] Speaker F: Ten years. [00:16:39] Speaker B: Ten years. Is it this year or next year? [00:16:41] Speaker F: Next year. Ten years. Yeah, that's exactly right. And so with that void, we just recognized that we needed to avoid a collective voice for gas providers in the state of Georgia. So that was really important. And so again, when you look at that, that brings together the investor owned utilities, the municipals, the pipelines. And so while we may not agree on everything, that's okay. The one thing we can agree on is that we want to see the direct use of new natural gas advocated for and promoted important. [00:17:13] Speaker B: And again, we talked about this a lot, but this is the first time you're probably hearing it from us, is that we were so impressed that the investor owned utilities and municipalities. It wasn't us and them, a wall down the middle, shoulder to shoulder, having these conversations. And again, beautifully orchestrating at least the environment to allow that to happen. Yes. [00:17:32] Speaker F: Yeah, that's exactly right. And so, you know, with the successes of a couple of the bills that we've seen through in the past four years has been just, you know, really impressive. I mean, for as young as association as we are. And, you know, we've got now our advocacy team built in place, running strong. We've got our communications, marketing. Hey, as a matter of fact, let me give you guys a tease. Are you guys ready for this afternoon? [00:17:58] Speaker B: Wait, is this a scoop? [00:17:59] Speaker F: Okay, this is a scoop that no one knows about. Are you ready? Okay, we've got reservoir, who is our agency out of DC that's going to be unveiling a campaign this afternoon. And listen, I'll just go ahead and give it to you guys. You ready? [00:18:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:18:14] Speaker F: Okay. It's energy heroes, those utility workers. We just heard about the utility workers bill that was just passed. And so now we're going to be unveiling a campaign, our energy heroes, that deliver that warm water, that warm heat, the ability to cook on natural gas. So that's coming this afternoon. [00:18:35] Speaker B: Wonderful. [00:18:36] Speaker F: Hey, live from here, Zim and James got the scoop. [00:18:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Hopefully we can interview some of those people in the future. [00:18:48] Speaker F: Would love to. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Yeah, we're trying to inspire people, obviously that maybe haven't ever been out or gotten involved here at NGA and you being instrumental, I know we just heard kind of your inspiration, but what would you challenge or charge those people with that maybe haven't gotten involved yet? [00:19:06] Speaker F: Yeah. I would just say to those that aren't, that are gas providers that are not directly involved yet, that it really is important that we just given the issues in our industry right now. And so I think really important is that as we message to consumers, as we message to lawmakers, policymakers, that doing that collectively is. We're at a critical juncture. I think it's an important time for us to be doing. [00:19:33] Speaker B: That's great. [00:19:34] Speaker A: That's great. Well, we thank you for letting us be a part of it. We're excited to speak to this group. [00:19:40] Speaker F: Oh, listen, we cannot wait for the presentation, you guys. Hey, listen, you got. These guys are on stage. Yeah. Jim and James. And we're excited about that. I know the audience is excited. And listen, this is just the first of many is what we're hoping for. Okay, so we want to see Jim and James. There you go. [00:20:00] Speaker B: Yeah. One time it's gonna be a mistake, twice. It's deliberate. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:04] Speaker B: And we would be honored. [00:20:05] Speaker F: You guys are great. [00:20:06] Speaker A: We'll see you down the line, brother. We're gonna be back. All right. We appreciate you. [00:20:09] Speaker F: Yeah, thank you. Okay. [00:20:12] Speaker G: Living my best life. [00:20:13] Speaker B: That's how you watch. [00:20:14] Speaker A: It's good, isn't it? [00:20:16] Speaker G: So good. [00:20:17] Speaker A: So good. [00:20:18] Speaker B: And we're. And, you know, it is so good. And this morning, I'm not joking. This is one of the busiest mornings we've had in a while. I mean, back to back to back. People wanting to come on and just tell their story. [00:20:30] Speaker A: And I swear, we need Rodney as our agent. I'm telling you, he is out there hustling. He's like the flavor. Flavor of George. [00:20:37] Speaker G: I saw you gentlemen on LinkedIn talking to Rodney at some conference across the southeast, and I was like, Rodney, great. Get these guys here. They're making an impact. The word on the street is out. [00:20:49] Speaker A: We make it exciting. [00:20:50] Speaker B: I think we have another advocate. This is follower number eight, our flavor flag. Let's do it. [00:20:55] Speaker G: Money talks. Gentlemen, do us a favor. [00:20:58] Speaker A: Well, you haven't seen our budget. [00:21:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I hear you. [00:21:02] Speaker A: For those who don't know, you introduce yourself. [00:21:04] Speaker G: Oh, sure, sure. I'm Sarah Gillis, manager of regulatory affairs slash marketer services for Atlanta Gaslight. [00:21:11] Speaker B: Okay. [00:21:11] Speaker G: So really serving as a liaison between Atlanta Gaslight and our valued external stakeholders, the marketer community, but also interacting with our public service commission staffers as well. [00:21:21] Speaker B: So you work with Chris a lot. Chris Turner. [00:21:24] Speaker G: Chris is actually, he works for Georgia Natural Gas, but they are a brother sister of the Southern Company Gas enterprise. [00:21:30] Speaker B: Chris and I are very close. I'm out of Florida, and we're both board of directors for Finga. So I got to be very good friends through that. [00:21:38] Speaker G: Very powerful organizations at Finga and Alabama Natural Gas association. And, you know, I'm passionate about getting natural gas association of Georgia to that level. [00:21:50] Speaker B: Yes. And that's the energy it takes. And this thing is, this is our first time here, James and I, and we got to know Bill Defore and Rodney and so many folks, and they said, we want to have you here. Thank you also. Yeah. Thanks for being a champion. [00:22:04] Speaker A: I wonder who that one follower was right here was unaccounted for. [00:22:08] Speaker B: Sweet. We got you. Very impressed and very humbled to be here because, again, the amount of knowledge sharing, the amount of information, the amount of collaboration, I'll say that it's interesting when we have investor owned utilities and municipalities working hand in hand for the betterment of the industry. It's fantastic. [00:22:28] Speaker G: Absolutely. And I'm very passionate about educating and empowering all of the industry stakeholders. Right? [00:22:34] Speaker B: Yes. [00:22:35] Speaker G: Marketers, utilities, vendors, contractors, everybody who's a part of growing this industry. [00:22:41] Speaker B: Everybody has a stake. [00:22:42] Speaker G: Absolutely. Let's grow the pie together. One of my sayings is protect, grow. Tell. Right. Protect our industry. Grow our industry and tell our story. And a year ago, at the 2023 annual summit here at Chateau Lawn, chairman Jason Shaw spoke to our group and asked us to work together, you know, stop battling each other internally, come together, have a unified voice for the industry. And I really took that to heart as I'm leading the marketing and communications committee for NGA of Georgia. And that's what we're trying to do. You know, come together, share our story, be a unified, consistent message across the state and the country. [00:23:24] Speaker B: If I had a mic, that's a mic drop. [00:23:28] Speaker A: Right. Fantastic. And we've seen the output. Right. Seeing. Just so this is our first time here, obviously, but seeing last night, I said one of my favorite parts is where, and I don't mean this as an insult, but a small enough group to where when something passion has been said, you get an amen. [00:23:46] Speaker G: Right? [00:23:47] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:23:47] Speaker G: Like church, like, let's go. [00:23:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:49] Speaker A: And I love that. That's what I work for. So to be able. I can't wait to present this afternoon. [00:23:55] Speaker G: Me, too. And I gotta follow you guys, so I gotta step it up. [00:24:00] Speaker B: No, no, it'll be easy. If you're following us, you're gonna be gold. [00:24:04] Speaker A: So, no progress? [00:24:06] Speaker G: It's gonna be good. [00:24:07] Speaker A: No, it'll be great. I think that's a great ramp up. It's usually that. No offense, but the afternoons, they, you know, it's sleepy. Everybody gets their belly full, especially here in Georgia. [00:24:17] Speaker B: Well, especially with this. The food here has been oh, so good. [00:24:22] Speaker G: That's why they had to bring us closers in after lunch. They know you're high energy. Keep the energy up with marketing and communications, too. But, hey, chateau elan. Work hard, play hard. Cool place to be. [00:24:34] Speaker A: The golf was amazing yesterday. The weather, beautiful. I mean, give it to Nga for this weather. [00:24:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. And then the wine tasting, or in my events, smelling. What an educational event. I learned more about this whole. The history of the family and everything was. [00:24:50] Speaker G: How about the tour guide? She was a comedy show. [00:24:54] Speaker B: Phenomenal. Phenomenal. I mean. Yeah. On fire. [00:24:57] Speaker G: Yeah. I just pinched myself. Lucky. Lucky to be here. So grateful y'all are here and looking forward to the rest of the conference. [00:25:03] Speaker A: I think everything you said is a testament of why people should be here. But you have the floor. If you would like to motivate anybody back home, why they should get involved. Yeah. [00:25:12] Speaker G: Oh, my gosh. I mean, like I mentioned, coming together with a unified voice, consistent message. You're going to be so impressed this afternoon with everything the marketing communications community is offering. It's going to be career hubs on our website, messaging tools, metrics, data that they can share on their platforms as well. I'm just going to really showcase the value of being a member at NGA. It's endless. [00:25:42] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:25:42] Speaker G: Y'all are awesome. [00:25:43] Speaker B: Thank you so much. [00:25:44] Speaker A: So grateful for being the champion of the show. [00:25:46] Speaker G: Hey, I got y'all. [00:25:47] Speaker A: No reason. [00:25:48] Speaker G: I got y'all. [00:25:49] Speaker A: Hey, we'll be back. [00:25:50] Speaker G: All right. [00:25:52] Speaker B: Love the crowd. [00:25:53] Speaker A: We talked him. Yeah. [00:25:54] Speaker B: New e kaldi. He heard that I was at a wine tasting, right? And I'm sober 13 years. Yeah. He's calling me up. He's like, what are you doing? Then he sent me a note. He goes, I'm just busting your chops. He goes, I know you're there. I smell the wine, I don't taste it, and it's like a bouquet of flowers. So, anyways, love the colonel. [00:26:13] Speaker A: Congratulations. [00:26:14] Speaker B: Thank you, sir. [00:26:14] Speaker A: I appreciate that. [00:26:16] Speaker B: I appreciate that. [00:26:17] Speaker A: I was drunk the whole time, Bill, I have to admit. So it all averages out. I'm drinking for two. We're here with our good friend Bill Defore. From the gas authority. You know, I feel like we've been around each other, but I feel like. Like we met. I know y'all probably knew each other a little bit before at APGA event last year. American Public Gas association somewhere, maybe Louisville or something. Maybe. It was the operations conference. And I remember I came up, I was talking to Rodney, and I had some questions about APGA, and he goes, come on. And he just introduced me to Bill. Bill, do us a favor. Introduce yourself and who you're with. Sure. Yeah. Bill Defore. I'm director of regulatory compliance with the municipal Gas Authority of Georgia. [00:27:10] Speaker B: We've heard of them, sometimes known as MGAG. [00:27:13] Speaker A: MGAG, yeah. [00:27:14] Speaker B: You know, a lot of acronyms in our industry, Bill. [00:27:16] Speaker A: Gas authority. [00:27:17] Speaker B: The gas authority or the authority as sometimes we like to just say many names. [00:27:24] Speaker A: Also known as they are. Yeah, kind of like Jimmy. We're legendary. We're the Natural Gas association of Georgia this week right here at the chateau. Beautiful property. Awesome event so far. Great people here. You got to be proud watching all the work Rodney's poured in there. Yeah, it's a great organization. It is. It is really neat. So we have heard some news here recently that you guys have made some changes with some of your programs, and we're going to be working closely together. We are. Yeah. Through our new training program that the gas authority approved just this year. So been hearing from our membership that training was lacking. You know, training. Training was needed for all the members. Just everything from the new guy coming in off the street to operator qualification, safety needs. Across the board, the third party offerings were fading away and new people coming on transitions. And so we decided to get into it. Full board. A program offered to the full membership of the gas authority. [00:28:36] Speaker B: And that's 80 plus members. [00:28:38] Speaker A: 80 plus members. 81, I think, that have operational services that if they're a member of the gas authority, then they have access to our full program. [00:28:50] Speaker B: And that is now through Energy Worldnet. [00:28:52] Speaker A: It's through energy Worldnet. That's right. Through. We've heard of them, seen those guys. [00:28:58] Speaker B: And, you know, I'm just going to connect the dots, really. When we really got to know Rodney, it was a year or so ago, APGA again, we were out in Scottsdale. [00:29:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:29:08] Speaker B: And, you know, we just became friends immediately. And we just started to talk and we just started to share, knowledge sharing. [00:29:16] Speaker A: Remember we had him on talking about the Soar program. [00:29:18] Speaker B: Yes, that's right. Yeah. The APGA Soar program. And it's amazing in our industry that when all of a sudden we just have conversations with folks and we share knowledge. Vice versa. Things go and look a year later, we're now into a great relationship and a great. [00:29:41] Speaker A: One of the benefits of the side aisles in these meetings. We survived through Covid doing things virtually, but we missed all those hallway conversations, the opportunities to just get to know each other. Yeah, we've seen a lot of that already just in the short time we've been here. This event last night, being able to fellowship with everybody. Everybody. Such a group here. I mean, you can tell great things happening in Georgia because of the people in this room. [00:30:11] Speaker B: It's impressive. [00:30:12] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and we see the cooperation between the investor owned utilities and the municipals here because we've sort of been separate in Georgia for a long time. And I see Nga bringing that together and that's a good thing. [00:30:26] Speaker B: And I'll say from a perspective that James and I get to see traveling quite a bit. Bit. Georgia is really doing a great thing in that respect because a lot of times there is that separation, you know, the investor or utilities versus municipalities and such, you know, just different. And right here, I mean, we just. Some of the conversations that we've had going on where people are talking about what they can do and how they can, you know, work together in potentially. [00:30:52] Speaker A: Ways is really find what we have in common. We may have some things that we differ on. Set those aside and work on what we have in common. [00:30:59] Speaker B: That's a great perspective. Yeah. Like Mike Jewell says, let's be positive, you know? [00:31:03] Speaker A: Exactly. Mike Jewell, shout out, Bill, you've always been involved in the industry doing work. You know, a lot of the work happens in the back rooms, you know, in a black box that a lot of people don't know about. What inspired you to get involved? We speak a little bit later today about claiming your seat at the table, and a lot of it is about that thing. Right. And how do you get involved in this industry and get involved in committees, subcommittees, boards, you name it. What inspired you to get involved? You know, I got into the industry accidentally, really. My background is general contracting, mostly building commercial industrial, building construction, some utility work over the years. But I found myself out of a job. There was an opening with the city of Toccoa, my hometown that has a gas system. And I within a few months became utilities director and had to learn about water and wastewater and natural gas and just learned to love the product. I'd grown up with it in my home and knew that, but I had no idea where it came from. [00:32:07] Speaker B: Oh, sure. [00:32:08] Speaker A: Started there, but followed the industry, had support from the city leadership there that let me learn about the regulatory side of it, and I enjoyed that. It was a necessary thing. [00:32:25] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. [00:32:26] Speaker A: But as I found out more and got involved and started asking people questions and found out, like you said, people will help you if you ask a question. And so we got more just sort of. Sort of snowballed there into involvement with committees and moved around. And 18 years ago, had an opportunity to come to work for the gas authority with a new program that was new at that time, was our regulatory service that we're offering now have 72 municipals that subscribe to our regulatory service. And so since then, it's an organization that I love working for in an industry that I really believe in, as. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Do we, as you can tell. That's why we do this. We really do. And you mentioned regulatory, and, you know, and we really tout safety all the time, and we want the delivery of safe, reliable natural gas. Safe is the first word there. Through pipeline integrity projects, through, you know, keeping up with replacing lines and such like that. I mean, it's a. It's nonstop, you know, it's not just the expansion of the systems, but it's the maintenance and maintaining of the existing system and. Or the replacement of our. And it is a 365 day a year job. It never ends. [00:33:43] Speaker A: And here at NgA, looking at their goals, they came together with the commonality of marketing and advocacy and education. You can do all that you want to, but if you don't have a safe product that's delivered in the proper manner, it's for naught. And so, while we're not really on the agenda at NGA yet for operations and safety, we're here. We have to be, you know, we have to be here first for any of the rest of it to work. [00:34:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:13] Speaker A: Bill, thank you for the work you do in our industry. [00:34:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thank you. [00:34:18] Speaker A: Really appreciate it. We'll be back. Well, one after another. [00:34:24] Speaker B: You know what, though? This. These are the type of mornings that I like, and, PJ, I'm being very honest, is that we've talked to, I think, maybe five, six, seven folks right now. [00:34:32] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:32] Speaker A: You're worried if we're gonna make our quota. [00:34:34] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is very. Well, it was one. Well, our quota was a show up. [00:34:40] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:40] Speaker B: No, I'm kidding. But as I sit back, I've been in the industry. I started Centerpoint energy, which used to be known as Mineagasco. [00:34:48] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:48] Speaker B: And I'm telling you, this is 20 plus years ago up in Minnesota, and it's still to this day. It amazes me that when I, we're here talking to folks, the amount of knowledge that is in our industry, people are sharing and want to share. And I learned something new every day from being in the industry, 20 plus years. People hear that and they're like, seriously? I'm like, yeah, no, it's serious. You still learn things each and every day. And it's wonderful, this industry that we're in. [00:35:13] Speaker D: Yeah, no, it's fantastic. And I think there's great opportunity for industry in the future. I mean, we were just talking in there, in the conference, basically, about, I mean, a lot of people say, you know, the problem ahead, but I really look at it as the opportunity. And it's an opportunity on a couple levels, right? There's a big, big problem, but a problem means that there's some really cool solutions. And to your point, there's incredibly talented people in the industry. And, you know, that I have a mindset of, you know, it's not a win lose. You know, I never really understood that. It's, you know, I read a book once and it explained the future. As JFK said, hey, we're going to the moon. And that was an incredible opportunity and problem at the time. The energy future for me is like colonizing Mars. And so what I hope for that is that instead of people saying we should use this or that, it says, holy cow, we should really come together around this and find the amazing solutions and put talented people together and work together to solve that, because that's the only way this gets done. It's just a different mindset. But I do think the right people saying the right message could really bring people together rather than split people apart. And that's the message that I've been communicating here as the chair of the natural gas association. And we want as many friends out there in all the different industries and all the different energy sectors and all the different states that we can have. [00:37:13] Speaker A: Amen. We got ahead of ourselves. [00:37:15] Speaker D: Do us a favor. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Introduce yourself to people back home. Yeah. [00:37:18] Speaker B: No. [00:37:18] Speaker D: My name is PJ Zonzias, and I'm the vice president and GM of Nextera energy services and really proud to serve as the chair of the natural Gas association of Georgia. [00:37:27] Speaker A: Very nice. And we are live here from Chateau Elon here in Georgia for the Natural Gas association of Georgia event. Lots of great stuff happening right behind us. We're kicking off the day. Tons of speakers set up. We get to even speak, which says a lot about your association. [00:37:45] Speaker D: Yeah, it does. It does. You know, we let anybody in. [00:37:50] Speaker A: We're inclusive. You've got, as the chair, you've got to be proud of this event and bringing this many people together. [00:37:56] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, I'm not, you know, the event, I think, is an output of the work and the value that the organization puts in the, I've been involved for the last six years, you know, came on as just a board member, and I like building things. I think that's the thing that gets me up in the morning. [00:38:17] Speaker A: He likes tearing things apart. [00:38:19] Speaker D: Yeah. No, good thing we're sitting together. Right. And, you know, the organization over the last six years has really, I'd say, grown up, and we've grown up at the right time. You know, there's a lot of opportunities in the industry to talk about our message, and it's been fun to be a part of that and it's fun to bring people together. We had our first summit three years ago. Every year it's growing. Our membership is growing. You know, we created an external affairs committee. We have an RNG committee. So it's, you know, we're touching now all the pieces, and the organization is, is really coming together. And so to be a part of that, to have an opportunity to lead for a couple of years, and my goal has always been that we get this by the end of my chairmanship to a place where it's funded well. We're engaged. Well, we have the right people and leadership and, you know, we just continue on and that's, we're really close to that and I'm really excited to be part of that. [00:39:23] Speaker B: And you kind of answer. We've been asking folks about, you know, if you could say something to the audience out there about the value of this association. And honestly, everything that you spoke up to this point validates that and is going to really prompt people that are watching this to say, you know what, the natural gas associated with Georgia, I am going to, you know, explore that. I'm going to become a member. I'm going to get involved, as James likes to say. I'm going to claim a seat at the table and have an input. [00:39:50] Speaker D: Yeah. You know, I have very few skills, but selling is one of them. And so, you know, I like to get out there and talk about our association, and we're really proud of it. [00:39:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:00] Speaker B: And it shows. It shows. I mean, you can tell that you have a passion for it, you know, and I always talk about passion and purpose. [00:40:06] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:40:06] Speaker B: If we know what our passion and our purposes are and we do those great things happen. [00:40:11] Speaker D: Yeah. No, I 100% agree. [00:40:14] Speaker A: Well, we appreciate the work you do, sir. Yeah. You get more people out. [00:40:20] Speaker D: Thank you, guys for showing up. [00:40:22] Speaker A: I really enjoyed it last night. I'll tell you, one of the things I remember most is when somebody's up there speaking, and it's almost like a small group at church, if it makes sense. And somebody's like, amen. [00:40:37] Speaker D: You can't take yourself too serious or, you know, the message doesn't get across. [00:40:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Thanks again. Appreciate you. Oh, it was. [00:40:50] Speaker A: On that note. [00:40:51] Speaker B: On that note. [00:40:52] Speaker A: Welcome to Georgia. [00:40:54] Speaker B: Welcome to Georgia. Thank you for being a contributing member to having us attend. [00:41:01] Speaker A: Sure. [00:41:01] Speaker B: I mean, honestly, Mike, you know, we were just talking about. We just met Mike. It was a year ago. It was 2023, out in Scottsdale, APGA. And then James and Mike walked from India or six months later. Was it six months? I don't know what it was. Whatever it was. Six months. Walked from Indiana back over to Kentucky. Yeah. [00:41:21] Speaker A: I had to sign an NDA. I didn't know we could talk about that yet. We did. I'll tell you, we get to do a lot of things at these shows, but when we get to be with our friends and experience stuff, that's the, that's the best part of it. Right? [00:41:35] Speaker B: That's right. [00:41:36] Speaker A: People laughed at that when we started talking about it at the beginning. Yeah. And then I'll tell you what, every time I see somebody, we talk about walking from Indiana to Kentucky. [00:41:47] Speaker B: That's. It's pretty cool thing. I, you know, for a lot of folks don't know that. Louisville. Louisville. Louisville. I'm struggling with that one. Anyways. That it is. It's right on the river, right on the border. So was quite an experience. And now, again, now we're here in 2024. [00:42:06] Speaker A: Couldn't be happier. Mike, did you know when I, when, when I realized this week, because it's been, we've been traveling a lot, but when I was like, man, we're going to Georgia, I wonder if Mike Jewel's going to be there. And that's when I reached out to you and you're like, I'll see you there, brother. [00:42:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. If it's in Georgia, I'll probably be there. [00:42:23] Speaker A: That's for sure. Yeah. So have you been involved in natural Gas association of Georgia? [00:42:29] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, I'm on the board. For how long you been involved? Since the inception? No, not since the inception. Probably a year and a half going on two years. [00:42:38] Speaker D: Okay. [00:42:39] Speaker A: Okay. [00:42:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:40] Speaker A: We're excited to be out here. I know there's great things going on in Georgia. Got big speakers on the agenda this year. Yeah. Senator, I hear we're interviewing a senator. Stay tuned. We'll see if we get this. [00:42:55] Speaker B: We'll get past security. That's the first step. [00:42:58] Speaker A: How's things over in Sydney, Covington? [00:42:59] Speaker B: Going great. [00:43:00] Speaker A: Going great. [00:43:01] Speaker B: Busy. Got a lot of things going on. Projects going on. What type of projects are we doing? Replacements, expansions, mostly expansions. We have some interesting news. We're trying to develop and use Rng at our CNG facility. So working with, working with some folks to make that happen. And we're actually, some of them are here. So we're gonna have a little sidebar conversation about that. Can I be included in that? Because my years of CNG, I started in CNG in 2008, then got into LNG and then the whole RNG, I explored that. We moved about 3000 decatherns a day out of a landfill outside of Houston. And I know some of the ins and outs of it. And then we were just in Hawaii. They use a lot of SMG, synthetic natural gas, which again, was another, as well as through that. There's a byproduct called hydrogen, which is a big topic these days. And they deliver, I think, 12% hydrogen day in and day out. And they've been doing it for decades. So we need to have a conversation about that. We have a CNG facility. We've, it's about ten years old now. Okay. We're one of the first municipalities in the state of Georgia to have one, and it's been very successful. We got a lot of truck traffic. We're right on I 20. Good strategic location, easy access to get on and off to get it. And so when we looked at that, we also have electric charging stations there for the electric folks. And so we're trying to look at sustainability, and the next step would be, hey, let's go after RNG and see if we can sell RNg. Of course, we have a landfill there in Newton county as well, that we're looking at doing a project to possibly connect the chain right there in our own county. So we'll actually be taking the RNG and selling it there within our own county, hopefully. I think I might have to make another trip back up to Covington, spend a few days. No, seriously, I love that stuff. That's kind of my goal, really. [00:45:02] Speaker C: Okay. [00:45:02] Speaker A: I want that for. Yeah. [00:45:05] Speaker B: Well, I, you know, and I really think a lot of folks realize that just naturally, under all these landfills, there is methane ready to be used. And let's use it in some productive ways, creates itself through the decomposition process, and I think it's just a low hanging fruit. So many people could really take advantage of the learn. You guys could be a white paper for that going forward. Hoping so. [00:45:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Mike, you're always a positive influence. Thank you. [00:45:39] Speaker B: Thank you. Be positive. Be positive. [00:45:42] Speaker A: Hey. We'll be back. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Very creative. I don't even want to know what happens in your brain because technical and creative going at the same time. [00:45:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:54] Speaker B: Makes me want to shake a little bit. [00:45:57] Speaker A: So I have a performance review coming up. There's anything you want to say? [00:46:02] Speaker B: The greatness of you, that you are the glue that bonds us day in and day out as we travel around the country, from Hawaii to actually outside the country. We're international. We were in Banff, and now we're in beautiful Georgia to be here. Oh, my goodness. Forties in the morning. Overnight seventies during the day. This is utopia. Oh, yeah. [00:46:23] Speaker A: Sunset over the. Over the. [00:46:26] Speaker B: Not like this all year. But you're here the right time. [00:46:29] Speaker A: I'm not complaining, that's for sure. We know how blessed we are. We're here with a legend. What was it last night? Is that the lifetime of achievement? [00:46:39] Speaker B: The first ever, I believe, from the Natural Gas association of Georgia. Lifetime Achievement Award. Yeah. Yeah. Congratulations. Well, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I'm Ian Skelton, Binworth, Atlanta Gaslight. Really? Since 1985. Okay. Started out as a co op student in the Gwinnett office and then moved to Augusta in 87 and started managing our commercial accounts down there, installing gas lines for new restaurants and schools and things, and moved up a little bit to the industrial customers. And eventually they transferred me back to Atlanta, and I was managing our industrial statewide. The industry evolved. We went through deregulation. I started doing some other things with respect to renewable natural gas interconnects. We started taking some RNG from landfills back in 0809 timeframe, and then the natural gas vehicle business started really picking up, and they asked me to manage some existing c and g compressed natural gas customers we had. And then it's really just grown from there. And these days, I'm focused solely on the natural gas vehicle market. And after almost 40 years, decided to retire, spend some time with family and good for you sort of thing. Got a couple months left, and these kind folks here with the industry association chose to reward me or award me with this lifetime achievement award. So I'm humbled and thrilled to be the first recipient of it. Yeah, absolutely. [00:48:29] Speaker A: This is our first time at the Natural Gas association of Georgia. [00:48:33] Speaker B: Okay. [00:48:34] Speaker A: We've been impressed so far. Can't go wrong with the venue. Great job on the weather here. But truthfully, there's a lot of work that goes on behind these doors, and it looks like a lot of collaboration. Oh, yeah, I'm sure you've seen a lot of that. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:50] Speaker A: Over the years. [00:48:51] Speaker B: Well, people don't realize what it takes to get that natural gas delivered safely and reliably to your house or your business every day. There's just a whole host of activities, from sourcing the supply of the gas, arranging for transportation on the pipelines, maintaining the infrastructure building, and staying ahead of the growth that we have in this state, and making sure that, you know, people can crank up their furnace on those cold mornings, and it's there on the coldest days of the year. And, you know, I've been fortunate to be part of all that in many respects, used to manage our industrial interruptible customer market. So I was the guy that was blessed with having to call the interruptible customers and say, hey, you know, we need you guys to curtail the gas, and depending on their contract, have to reduce their take or even go down to zero. I wasn't always the most popular. No, no, no. We've had a very similar career, and we don't. He doesn't know it yet, but from my time, I was in the same type of group up north in Minnesota. Let me tell you, when it got to seven below or worse. Yeah. Curtailed a B's and B B or B or whatever it was, we did all those. And then I was. Also had my hand in a lot of CNG and lng out. Okay. Okay. So, yeah, very similar. Yeah, very similar. So he's definitely. We're kindred spirits, so to speak. [00:50:22] Speaker A: If you work hard, you can get a lifetime achievement. [00:50:25] Speaker B: I don't think so. No, no. [00:50:30] Speaker A: We're trying to motivate people to get involved here in state of Georgia with natural gas association. Georgia. Okay. You. You seeing it firsthand, what would you say to those folks? [00:50:41] Speaker B: Well, I mean, if you're in this space in any way as a gas utility or a supplier to the gas industry or just anybody really, in the energy space here, this is a great organization. I mean, these are, folks are really grassroots, really talking about the things that matter and are relevant in today's environment, industry. Having the opportunity to network with the folks that are doing this, work with other companies, and learn about the issues at hand is huge. So I would highly recommend that to anybody in this space when it comes from a lifetime achievement award winner. That's the word right there. [00:51:31] Speaker A: Thank you for joining us. [00:51:32] Speaker B: Thank you, Ian. Thank you. Good talking to you guys. Absolutely. Good talking to you. [00:51:35] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:51:36] Speaker A: Hey, we'll be back. I mean, our standard is very high when it comes to quality. [00:51:41] Speaker B: Well, it is. [00:51:42] Speaker A: It is, obviously. Do us a favor and introduce yourself. [00:51:46] Speaker B: Sure, sure. [00:51:47] Speaker H: So I'm Chris. I'm Chris Turner. My title is managing director of B two B markets. I run basically all the commercial operations for a company called South Star, and South Star is a southern owned entity. We're part of the Southern Company family, but we're branded in each individual market. So we're Georgia natural gas in Georgia. We're Florida natural gas in Florida. So we're in ten states. We serve about 650,000 customers. We're, I'll say, one of the very first retailers. So we just celebrated our 25th anniversary. [00:52:14] Speaker B: Congratulations. [00:52:15] Speaker H: We've been in business since the market deregulated here in Georgia. So we're an offshoot of what was AGL resources that's now owned by Southern Company. [00:52:22] Speaker A: And you guys know each other from work in Florida, right? Because I've heard your name in a lot of conversations. [00:52:27] Speaker B: I have brought you up a lot, Chris. Just, you know, very complimentary, just for clout, I think. [00:52:33] Speaker H: Well, I had the true honor to be the president of the Florida Natural Gas association for the last couple years. I guess we were the first marketer that did that. That's always been interesting. It's either been a municipal or an investor owned utility. And so I got to serve as the president. And as I said a moment ago, I have the enviable now of being immediate past president, which is the greatest job on the executive committee. Right. [00:52:57] Speaker A: Not. [00:52:57] Speaker H: Not a lot of expectations of you. [00:52:59] Speaker B: Right? [00:52:59] Speaker A: Exactly right. You still get invited to all the good stuff. [00:53:04] Speaker B: It's fine. [00:53:05] Speaker H: I just have less expectations so I don't have to sit in these sessions. I can sit out here and chat over some coffee. [00:53:11] Speaker B: And the last board of directors meeting down in Florida, you know, I looked over at Chris, and Chris, somebody said something. Chris just goes, looks good. You know? You guys all handle that. [00:53:20] Speaker A: Not long gone by then, right? Yeah. [00:53:22] Speaker H: Right, right. [00:53:23] Speaker A: That's awesome. Well, we are live here at the Natural Gas association of Georgia, a very important group here. You've been here before? [00:53:30] Speaker H: Oh, yeah. So this organization, when you compare it to the two organizations. Right. Florida Natural Gas association. Been around for over 60 years. [00:53:38] Speaker B: Yes. [00:53:38] Speaker H: This is still, I'll say, a relatively fledgling organization, kind of getting up to speed. So I think it's around ten years. I think 2025 will be ten years. But we were the first marketer that joined. So I'll say we're sort of the charter marketer, member of the NGA and started very early working alongside Rodney Dill. And really, the gas authority needs to get a lot of credit for getting this thing up and running southern company gas and liberty. And, you know, a lot of us kind of got this off the ground, so it was much smaller, but we've really gotten a lot of momentum the last couple of years. And I'll tell you, PJ has done a great job as the chair the last couple of years doing that. He's very much coveting the immediate past president role in the next six months. So he's out of the role. But the organization's come a long way and we do a lot of great things, I think, to collaborate around a lot of industry issues that are common to all of us, regardless of what chair you sit in. [00:54:28] Speaker B: I agree. And a couple things I want to hit on, too. One, it really is nice to see both in Florida as well as here in Georgia, where, again, associate members can take leadership roles. That doesn't happen across the board and other associations. So it really, the knowledge that you bring to both Florida and here is exemplary, and we appreciate it on both sides. And then two, I'm going to say here, for me, it was fascinating yesterday, sitting back and seeing municipalities and investor owned utilities having side by side by side having conversations, you know, about, again, just best practices industry, and that knowledge sharing was going fluidly. There wasn't, that wall between them, wasn't Muni's over here. An investor over here was like, yeah, this is kind of how things work, you know? [00:55:10] Speaker H: Well, the panel, we just heard, there was an RNG panel. You had a dairy farmer, you had someone from the city of Dublin, you had sustain RNG, the developer. And then Carl Garofalo from Southern Company Gas, who has nothing to do with the project, was moderating the project. [00:55:29] Speaker B: Moderating the project, right. [00:55:30] Speaker H: And so it was just a great conversation. And I was talking with Carl afterwards and he goes, you know, I could have stood up there for an hour and nobody would have got it. But when you hear the farmer standing up there talking about it's a no brainer, then you kind of, that's when the rubber meets the road. So it's a real, real conversations. [00:55:45] Speaker B: Yeah, really real. And it brought me back to my Minnesota days when some of those corn producers up there, they have heaps after corn season and they're canning corn. They have football fields full of husk. And I'm telling you, 15 years ago, they were saying, hey, we got a lot of methane coming off this. Let's hook up to your grid. I mean, they were bringing it up years and years ago because they realize that they're like, there's a source here, folks, that was on the forefront. So again, that hit very close to home with me in my past. It was good to hear, Chris. [00:56:16] Speaker A: We're trying to motivate people that maybe aren't involved here at NTA to get involved. What would you say to those folks? [00:56:24] Speaker H: First of all, I would say I was just actually talking to a marketer member who's just joined, who had just. We've been courting them for many years and they joined. And there's real conversations happening here now. The organization has done a great job on the advocacy front to actually get legislation to get the positive message about our industry out there. So I'll say there's a lot of momentum. One of the things we talked about earlier was, you know, the one thing I could do as a marketer member to sort of when I was at FNGA was, you know, I didn't put all ious chairing committees or all Munis. I actually got a diverse cross section of ious, Munis and suppliers actually running the committees because it's an organization that requires all of us to sort of come together. And so being in a role here where I served as treasurer for five years or so on this association, and I was president down there at the same time, I could say, let's try to bring these organizational messages together. We don't need to be siloed in the way that we're going out to market. And, you know, again, I've said it. I think I've said it once already. A rising tide raises all boats when we're all coming together. You know, we may all kind of have different messages, but if we can get that same. If we can get that same voice, unified voice out there, I think it. [00:57:36] Speaker B: Works really well for us. [00:57:37] Speaker A: Our perspectives are so important. Right? [00:57:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:57:40] Speaker A: I think in our presentation, we talk about everybody has a lens, a voice in the mirror. Right. [00:57:45] Speaker H: I like that. [00:57:45] Speaker A: To be able to provide that no matter where from, but have that consistent backbone of a message through it to where we're educated, we're informed, and we can go out and really spread awareness, I think is vital. Man, I appreciate it. It's nice to meet you. [00:57:58] Speaker H: Yeah, nice meeting you, too. Thanks for making the time. [00:58:00] Speaker B: All right. [00:58:01] Speaker A: Hey, we'll be back. [00:58:04] Speaker B: Could we still talk about New Orleans? Because, you know, it's funny. [00:58:07] Speaker E: Well, jazz fest, too. [00:58:08] Speaker B: Jazz fest. [00:58:09] Speaker E: Rolling stones. Rolling stones are here. I. [00:58:12] Speaker A: Six weeks, I think. [00:58:14] Speaker E: Oh, okay. Yeah. [00:58:17] Speaker B: I can't get enough of the food and the culture and the architecture. Those are the things that I thrive on. I've been going there for years. Dragos. We gotta go down to Drago. [00:58:27] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:58:28] Speaker B: Some of the best in the world. [00:58:29] Speaker E: Yeah. [00:58:30] Speaker B: Best in the world. [00:58:31] Speaker A: Well, we made fast friends last night, Jimmy. [00:58:35] Speaker B: We know. We did make fast friends last night, all of a sudden. And not only did we get to meet Mary, but she gave a great keynote. She was on stage, you know, talking about an organization we want to get into in a little bit. The name again? [00:58:49] Speaker E: Natural allies. [00:58:49] Speaker B: Natural allies. We're going to get into that. But she's up on stage. She goes, and I get to be on a podcast tomorrow with Jimmy and James. And I like. Because it's, you know, coffee with Jim and James. And I'm like, how does she know? I go by Jimmy in the industry? [00:59:03] Speaker A: You just put a Jimmy vibes. [00:59:05] Speaker E: Absolutely does. [00:59:07] Speaker B: That's a term of love and affection for everybody in the industry that knows me. [00:59:11] Speaker E: So thank you for saying, I'm glad we connected. And I could tell you guys were outlaws from the minute I saw you. So. [00:59:19] Speaker B: She knows us. [00:59:20] Speaker A: She knows us. We're here with a senator, and I had to get clarification. You know, we don't sit down with a lot of senators. [00:59:30] Speaker B: Mike Fezzi. Do you know Mike from Louisiana? [00:59:34] Speaker E: Yes, I know of him. I don't know him as well, because, of course, I served there many years ago and then recently served in the US Senate. So, yeah, I'm sure I keep up with everybody, but I can't quite do it. [00:59:46] Speaker A: Do us a favor, senator. Will you introduce yourself to people back home? [00:59:51] Speaker E: I will. I'm Mary Landrieu. I'm originally from New Orleans. I served in the legislature earlier in my career as state treasurer, and then I served. Had the great privilege and honor of serving in the United States Senate for 18 years. So, from 1997 to 2014, and spent most of my time on the energy. Well, spent all of my time on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a lot of my time on energy issues, helping us get a just revenue share with the federal government for some of our southern states, of which the Gulf coast states will really benefit, instead of just keeping all the revenues at the federal level. And then worked on education reform issues and adoption and foster care. Those were kind of my favorites. But today I do all energy, all environment. That's your focus, which I'm boring. [01:00:42] Speaker B: No, no, absolutely not. [01:00:44] Speaker A: So what made you go that direction? [01:00:48] Speaker E: Well, it's a good question. Thank you for asking, because it's an important one. You know, I've always in my life wanted my work to count for something. Wanted to serve more than just myself or, you know, my family, which I love dearly, and have eight siblings and 37 nieces and nephews, a fabulous husband, two children, and an amazing, almost perfect, like Ann Richards used to say, ten year old grandchild. But I. I just was raised in a family that said our job was to really try to serve the world. My father was educated by the Jesuits. I was educated by the Ursulines. It's just, you know, the motto serviam for us. And it's. I could have done it in many different ways, but public service just kind of worked out. Elective office worked out. I actually won my first race, which was amazing, and then ended up, you know, and people kept electing me. Yeah, people kept electing me. And so when I got out, I just thought, you know, I don't need the title. I need just to keep doing the work. And I love the work. I truly love the work. [01:01:53] Speaker B: It shows. [01:01:54] Speaker E: And so I decided this issue, because the world is at a crisis point. We've built an amazing energy infrastructure, or the globe. Now, we still have 2 million people that don't have access, billion that don't have access to electricity. But let's just say the United States, Europe, most everybody has electricity, et cetera. We've risen out of poverty. We've created the greatest middle class ever in the history of the world. You could maybe argue with the Chinese, but they're not necessarily free middle class. So that's a whole other issue. But, you know, we now have to get this climate issue under control, put too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So how do we produce more energy, get the bad stuff out of the air, and keep our people employed, growing and happy and prosperous? Big challenge. Mary Landru loves that. [01:02:46] Speaker B: It's a balancing act. [01:02:47] Speaker E: And it's a balancing act. Absolutely. So what you all do, helping to educate people and share these issues, because we have to kind of do it all with a purpose, you know, all the above with a yemenite, and that's getting the carbon out of the atmosphere, that's hurting us, raising our temperatures, and hurting us. [01:03:02] Speaker B: And, you know, Mary, we talked about this last night, about. And James uses this term all the time, our echo chamber. And you did a beautiful job last night of saying, you know, we all in this room and our community and our industry get it. We get it. But what about the people that aren't in that? And our industry is big, but it's those people that. Right. Are on the other fringe of it that. [01:03:23] Speaker E: Absolutely. And also, when you think about it, in some ways it's a blessing that over 300 million Americans wake up and really, they never really think about their lights just go on. Their car starts, they go to the gas station, there's gas, the coffee's hot. I mean, we live in such a rarefied world. When you travel to other countries, like we all have, there are no guarantees of that. I mean, it is dark, it's cold, it's, you know, and so I think Americans are like, oh, wow, how does this energy system work? Where does our energy come from? Now everybody's telling us we have to get rid of this or get rid of that, or we can't. And so they're confused. So I think programs like this are so good because that's what we don't need to talk to each other. We need to talk to everybody out there, the school teachers, the restauranteurs, the small business owners, the folks that, they don't really need to know all the details. But now that the questions are before them, should we have electric vehicles or gas vehicles or should we have both? Should we have hybrid? What should the federal government's rules be regarding all this? Should we use gas or should we go all electric? They're getting confused. They're like, hey, wait a minute. I don't know all the. And we should tell them, okay, these are the trade offs. You know, my view, which is why I, with natural allies, was created by several amazing, in my view, CEO's of midstream pipe companies. Those are the companies that move the gas. They don't drill for it. You know, they don't sell it. Well, they sell it. They don't drill for it, but they move it from where it's drilled to transport the gas. The midstream pipeline companies. And they just got tired of being the bad guys. Like how? Excuse me? Heck, you know, we're not the bad guys. You know, we are the good guys. We're moving gas that's replacing coal because it's dirtier and we're giving people cleaner choices at an affordable rate. And what people don't understand, because all the kids these days, including my own, tell me, mom, we're running the whole world on wind and solar I said, good, sweetheart. You just keep on thinking that. But until we have long term batteries, storage. Gas is the storage. We have 100 year supply stored. Yes, stored literally in the ground, waiting to be used. You can move it easily. It's not dangerous. Now. You have to maintain your pipes, of course. So, you know, that's what I'm hoping people can understand. And you need gas to back up wind and solar, because when the wind stops blowing, it just goes down. You have a little bit of battery storage, but you can't run a whole city if the wind stops blowing for ten days. And sometimes it does, or five days. Sometimes the sun goes away for several days. What are you going to do? Tell everyone in Los Angeles, sorry, you guys, take a break, you know, no driving. No driving today. [01:06:18] Speaker A: You mentioned something last night, for those not here, obviously, we spent some time together last night, had an awesome dinner, and you spoke. You mentioned about how much time and effort now, honestly, amazing this transformation has been in America of going and really the last 20 years, flipping the table to be in the position we are now and to how reckless it would be to throw it all away. [01:06:45] Speaker E: Well, absolutely. I mean, you don't remember. I mean, in the 1970s. I mean, I'm older than you guys, but in the 1970s, the lines at the lines at the gas pump, and people were flipping out. And this is really archaic. But I remember this. If you had a license plate that ended in an odd number, you went in gas. Remember that? On Mondays. Or it was like either your birthday or the license plate. And then you could only get gas on Tuesdays if you. I mean, and then we were going. We were, you know, begging. Saudi Arabia. Think about that. A country that now, it's very developed now, and I have a lot of positive things to say about Saudi Arabia. But back then, I mean, it was Bedouins. Intense. And here we are, the greatest nation in the world that won World War two, begging them to send us oil. It was humiliating. And not just from pride standpoint. It's dangerous to have to rely on people that don't always share your values. To get the things, you have to have to run your company. So fast forward, George Mitchell, this amazing guy. I've never met him, but I've read a lot about him. He's an oil and gas guy out of Texas. Had booms and busts like every many people in the business. And he just kept thinking with his engineers, there's a way. And so he cracked the shale, which is a tough rock, getting gas out of a rock. And you put liquid in it and. But it can be safe. It's not like you're putting dangerous chemicals. It's mostly water, you know, cracking up the rock. [01:08:13] Speaker B: 14,000 psi. [01:08:14] Speaker E: You know this. Yes. Yeah. Frac pads. And they got this gas out. And then we started discovering gas all over. We have gas in New York. You would know it since they shut gas down, shut nuclear down. Good luck, New York, trying to run your city. Good luck with that. But they have gas in New York, gas in Pennsylvania, of course, Texas, Oklahoma, blah, blah, blah. And so we're like, we have all this gas. It's cleaner than coal. Why don't we use it? And then Toby Rice, who's one of our leaders, who's a phenomenal young guy, really amazing young guy, who's the CEO of one of the largest gas producers in the world, EQT, he said, we should be exporting our gas and we need to get it to Japan. They don't have, they're our ally. They're helping, helping us in our fight. Not fight, but with China. But Toby wants to export it. And then here we have President Biden saying, oh, sorry, no lng. [01:09:09] Speaker B: To Japan. That's the. [01:09:11] Speaker E: We liquefy. And the technology is amazing. These ships, we employ thousands of people building these plants. We have, I represent venture global, which is one of the largest and I think most amazing producers and marketers of this. But, you know, you have Sempra, you have freeport, you have so many different companies, shell, all of them. And if we can get the coal plants in China shut down, coal plants in India shut down, which is hard to do because, of course, thats their source. And they just, like us, are protective of it. But theres got to be a way that we can do that. And then transition to more wind, more solar, more hydro. [01:09:51] Speaker B: And let me just ask. [01:09:53] Speaker E: And nuclear. [01:09:53] Speaker B: Yeah. And let me just ask you a follow up question, a statement. A lot of people ask me. They're like, like your daughter, you said wind and solar. And I said, you know, I view energy portfolio almost like a 401k portfolio that you start when you're young, okay? And it's a portfolio, it's diverse, but you're planning for 40 some plus years in the future when people are saying now, hey, you know, we have seven years, and we're going to be. What's your thoughts on these timeframes? [01:10:21] Speaker E: Well, first of all, the timeframe that the scientists talk about is true. Okay. And I want to respect what the scientists say. Like, we just have a short amount of time. I understand that. And that is correct. However, we, at least in America, live in a democracy, not a dictatorship. And you can't just boss people around you. People have to decide. Georgia has to vote. Louisiana has to vote. The counties in Georgia have to vote. The counties in Louisiana have to vote. There's a process to it, and it's slow. And so what I'm saying is, if we were a dictatorship and you could just get the dictators stand up and say, okay, this city shuts down. This city is being bulldozed. You know, this company, we're taking over your assets, we're changing them to x. Well, that might work. We don't live in that world. And so people have to realize that science is true, but this is not the world we live in. We live in a world that you have to convince people and move people and do it in a way that actually makes sense for the money. Unless the taxpayers of this country believe the federal government has all this money that they can just give out, which they don't believe that it's not true, we have to incentivize business that has the money, the private capital, trillions of dollars in the hands, thank God, of the private sector, not the government. Government has a lot of money, but the private sector has more, as it should be. And we have to go to these companies like Shell and Exxon and say, hey, guys, what can we do to incentivize you all to start moving? And they are lower carbon solutions. So you're right, Jimmy. It's going to take long time. And those are just the facts. And people say, well, then we'll blow our goals. No, you won't. It won't be as fast as you want, but it's a surer path. And then we can do interesting things. Like, one thing I represent also is climeworks, which is the cutting edge company in the world, operating in Iceland. This is not pine, this sky. It's up operating, etcetera. You can go online and see it climb works. They literally created a big vacuum cleaner to get the carbon out of the atmosphere. Yes. It's called direct air capture. It's a new technology. Bill Gates says we need this technology to explode. Too expensive today. But you know what? So were televisions, you know, when we first bought them, and now it's gone down. So were cell phones, and now it's going down. [01:12:51] Speaker B: And again, if we're on 100 year, 150, 50 year journey for this goal, and everybody's working together for a reasonable and doable goal, as opposed to seven years of. [01:13:01] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:13:02] Speaker B: I mean, it'll be like somebody saying, we're gonna remodel your kitchen and it's gonna be done in seven days. [01:13:07] Speaker E: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's terrifying. Yeah, it's terrifying. Yeah. [01:13:13] Speaker A: Well, Mary, we. I know. We appreciate the work you're doing. Absolutely. That maybe aren't as vocal, not as connected, not involved. I feel the same way. We love what's going on here at the Natural gas association of Georgia. So thankful. We've got to sit down with you. [01:13:32] Speaker E: Thank you, guys. [01:13:33] Speaker A: As you continue to do. [01:13:34] Speaker E: I will promise. [01:13:35] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:13:36] Speaker E: Y'all come visit us in New Orleans, and when you come to DC, maybe we'll set up in the Capitol or something. Oh, my gosh. And I'll warn people that y'all are in town. Bye. [01:13:48] Speaker B: Thank you, everybody. Oh, that's right. Yep. [01:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah. We may use it, we may not. Who knows? Content's content. [01:13:57] Speaker B: Well, this week far, far, far exceeded my expectations. I had high expectations, but the things that they got going on here at the Natural gas Association of Georgia have totally impressed. [01:14:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I like that. I'm going to say it again. It's not a bad thing. The small group kind of feel to it and what I mean, it's not a small group for a state level industry forum, but to be able to sit in a group and be able to hear the people in the back react and ooh and aw and clap. And like I said, it's nice to hear an amen from the back here and there when a good point's made. A lot of friends here that we knew from other shows, too, which is cool. You always think you're going to come to an event, brand new event that, oh, no. Oh, no. Hope I know someone. [01:14:53] Speaker B: Oh, we knew a lot of folks here. I mean, we. Again, given our schedule, James, you know, we've been going back to back to back, literally week to week to week. So I didn't have a lot of pressure. Prep time to go through and really explore who's all going to be here. So it was really, on Monday, it was really like out of the blue. I mean, really kind of like, wow, you're here. You know, just catching up with it. [01:15:16] Speaker A: Stuart Salters, you run into Mike jewel people, salt of the earth folks doing good work here in Georgia. I've learned a lot this week. We just had a conversation where I learned quite a bit. Being able to sit down with people again and hear their stories and hear it from their perspective is invaluable for me. It's how I paint it in. I feel like it's what we do for a living, but we take for granted because people will come down and sit with us. Yeah, right. [01:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:15:46] Speaker A: I learn stuff every day. We got to sit down with a senator and talk shop this morning, one. [01:15:53] Speaker B: Senator, two representatives, and again, hearing it from their perspective too. And people think the natural gas is an easy thing. You go to your stovetop and turn it on and it's there. But when you really take a step back, even for me after 25 years in the industry, to take a look at all the cogs, all the pieces that are really needed to deliver safe, reliable natural gas, it's intense and it's humbling though, at times. [01:16:18] Speaker A: And it's so important, no matter which part it is, all of us has to do our jobs are our roles. And the conversation, it has been neat to hear people get it here. And what I mean is, not every event we go to do we get droves of people waiting in line to get on. And what I mean is you can tell the work that this group did beforehand to make sure that they got the right people coming in and talking with us to help spread that message. Because at the end of the day, that's what we're trying to do, right? Is spread awareness. So it's been a great event in regards to the orchestration of the whole thing. This venue is amazing. Lots of forth. It was neat to work with Jen and Grace. [01:17:04] Speaker H: Oh, yeah. [01:17:05] Speaker B: And Rodney, you know, kind of being. [01:17:08] Speaker A: Rodney's now our agent. [01:17:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:11] Speaker A: Whether he likes it or not. If we could have hustling. [01:17:14] Speaker B: Well, the neat thing about Rodney is even like last night we were here, we did a few recordings, and then, you know, Rodney would be like, hey, tomorrow morning you're gonna have blank on. We're like, oh, we got him on tomorrow morning. Yeah. [01:17:27] Speaker A: And then we got boom, boom, boom, boom. [01:17:29] Speaker B: I mean, by 930, I think we had seven people on. Six people on. [01:17:33] Speaker A: By 930, I mean, it's only eleven. I know we haven't taken a breath. I don't feel like we speak. This afternoon. We're actually recording, getting this thing wrapped up because we've got a quick turnaround. Like you said, we're going to be in Seattle next week at Aga. Excited to bring story back from there. A little bit of a spoiler. We're going to be doing some work with PG and E, talking about a really neat program they got going on over there. So stay tuned for that. We're excited for it. This season is about getting out there, getting the field, talking to folks that are out there doing the work, and I feel like we're doing that, Jimmy, we are. [01:18:11] Speaker B: And kudos to you for and Carly for all the work with PG and e because that's timing is great, you know, just hopping down the coast. [01:18:17] Speaker A: So PGA is going to be big, but this week has been big, too, here in Georgia. It's nice to be here with you, as always, missing our co co host, Ashley. This was not a sometimes Ashley event. You can tell. No, it's been great. We hope to continue to bring great stories from our industry. Tell a friend about the show. [01:18:41] Speaker B: Please pass it on. Just tell one person. [01:18:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, we're gonna go get on stage. But thank you all for joining us. Jimmy, as always, thank you, brother. Yeah, we're shaking hands for the people on the headphones. We forget we're not recording sometimes. Hey, thank you all for joining us. [01:18:57] Speaker B: Have a great day. Stay safe, everybody. Everyone.