Every March since 1987, Congress and U.S. Presidents have designated March as Women’s History Month. This year, The Crude Life celebrates and honors their accomplishments and contributions in history with interviews and stories that center around women’s experiences in industry.
The Crude Life believes woman are vital in energy. Today more than ever. From a female’s point of view to intuition to specific skill sets, woman are vital in energy. Today’s women in industry are not only modern-day leaders, but truly are defining history as well. Everyone at The Crude Life is grateful for all your contributions to industry, to your communities and to our planet. Here is a fabulous interview with Amy Anderyszak, President & CEO, The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA)
Interview and summary by Genneca Houser
Amy Andryszak is President and CEO of INGAA, a trade organization that advocates for the natural gas pipeline industry. Amy talks about INGAA and what role they play in policy making through building relationships. The bottom line is that Sir Francis Bacon was right, knowledge is power and so the best way to advocate for a cause is to help others understand.
“The first step is really to create relationships with those policy makers and to create opportunities to educate them about your industry…So, we educate them about the natural gas pipeline and energy infrastructure industry so they understand how we work, what makes us work, and what type of policies make sense…” – Amy Andryszak
We discuss the levels of understanding for policy makers when it comes to the facts of the industry, and there’s also some discussion about the role a lack of understanding or education plays in current policies and legislation.
“I think generally when people have a better understanding it makes for better policy and, you know, really the largest component of advocacy is education.” – Amy Andryszak
The conversation circles around to how Amy got introduced into the industry. Interestingly, she began with a desire to have a focus on politics, from there Amy eventually got hired as a lobbyist on behalf of all of the subsidiaries for The Lowe’s Corporation, including in the energy sector. Eventually, Amy settled her ambitions in advocacy – not just for natural gas, either. Amy is also a volunteer for EverybodyWins! DC.
“I would say my interest in this arena started more from an interest in politics and advocacy more so than an interest specifically in the energy industry.” – Amy Andryszak
Amy speaks about what she believes every American should know about their energy: the source. There’s discussion about the demand for more infrastructure for our energy industry and regulations for it. In case anyone was wondering who it is that oversees these regulations, Amy talks a bit about that as well.
“…Policy making leadership seems as if they want to potentially have more regulations in place and don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying all regulations are bad. I mean, you want to ensure that any new infrastructure that is built in this country is done so in a safe way… ” – Amy Andryszak
For those who may not know, INGAA is different than the INGAA Foundation and Amy is President of this foundation as well. She speaks on the difference between the two organizations which is namely that the INGAA Foundation is for the use of studying and gathering information regarding the natural gas use and safe pipeline construction. In fact, the INGAA Foundation recently release a brand new study in January studying the energy trends and the shift from Covid.
You can find the study HERE, along with all the other studies!
“The general result of that study was that; yes, that once we emerge from this covid lockdown that we do anticipate continued need and demand for energy infrastructure in this country.” – Amy Andryszak
Knowing where our energy comes from may not be common knowledge. So, Amy breaks down the “Natural Gas Value Chain” and INGAA’s role within it representing mid-stream portion. Then, she discusses the transport process and where natural gas gets transported to once it’s been processed in a factory.
“So, think of us as sort of the highway system of natural gas pipelines… we move gas from parts of the country where it’s produced to parts where it’s consumed.” – Amy Andryszak
So, based on the conversation it seems like natural gas demand is high right now, and will continue to be relevant. It also seems like the best way for a positive political discussion regarding oil and gas will best come from education and people willing to advocate for the companies and individuals in the energy industry working to keep the lights on.
Resource Links
INGAA FoundationPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
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Below is the raw, unedited transcript from our artificial intelligence translator.
Genneca Houser
Good day to you. Ladies and gentlemen, friends and listeners. My name is Jessica and today we get to talk with Amy Andrew Zach of the Interstate, Excuse me, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America. It's kind of a mouthful and Amy is the president and Ceo, she's seems quite knowledgeable. I'm very excited. How are you doing
Amy Anderyszak
today? I'm doing great. It is a beautiful Friday here in the Washington DC area. It's actually 75°. It's a gorgeous day. So I'm doing great.
Genneca Houser
That is fantastic. I kind of, I've never been to the Washington Dc area. I always envisioned it kind of Chilean brisk. So I'm a little jealous of your sunshine.
Amy Anderyszak
It is at certain parts of the year. Um, but it is, uh, we have a beautiful spring and a beautiful fall here in Washington and I'm actually quite the opposite from you. Then. I've, I've basically lived in this area my whole life.
Genneca Houser
Oh, nice. Well, hopefully that's because that's where you want to, you know, just just be because you like it so much. Absolutely.
Amy Anderyszak
I discovered about um, 20 years ago that I wanted to be in politics and so obviously you can work in politics at the state and local level, but I wanted to be at the federal level. And so I've been here ever since. So
Genneca Houser
it's exactly where you need to be in any case for what you're doing. So that's nice.
Amy Anderyszak
Absolutely. Yes. As you mentioned, um, I'm the president and Ceo of inga the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America and we are an advocacy organization representing natural gas transmission and storage pipeline companies. So Washington D. C. Is the place for us to be.
Genneca Houser
Oh, absolutely. So what what is it exactly that the the organization does to advocate uh you know, for these different regulatory and legislative positions? How how does the the organization go about that?
Amy Anderyszak
Sure, Absolutely. So, you know, um, when you're an advocacy organization and you are trying to shape regulatory and legislative policy, then your main constituency, our policy makers and in our case we're a federally focused organization. And so our main constituency is Congress and it is the administration and then it's the various federal agencies that craft regulations which have a direct impact on our business. And so the first step is really to create relationships
with those policymakers and to create opportunities to educate them about your industry. This is true of any industry, but it's certainly what we do at inga. So we educate them about um the natural gas pipeline and energy infrastructure industry and um so they understand how we work, what makes us work and what types of policies make sense to have safe, reliable, affordable energy infrastructure in the United States?
Genneca Houser
Nice. Well, and out of curiosity, do you feel that Washington generally has a good understanding, you know, do you, do you feel that they do kind of understand well, how, how it works and and how, I mean, I guess, and how it doesn't
Amy Anderyszak
um I'd say that it's a bit of a mixed bag, um, you know, certainly policymakers within key, um, federal agencies that have oversight over our businesses. So, for example, um, ferc or femsa, those are the two main regulatory agencies, uh, that have oversight over, um, over our business. And so they obviously very much understand our business. They have a lot of expertise. This is, this is what they do.
Um, when you look at Congress, it's, it's a bit more mixed because obviously, members of Congress are dealing with every issue, and members of Congress who populate committees with oversight over energy have a better understanding than those that don't generally, um, like anything else. You know, there's still a lot of room for them to learn. They're not running our businesses every day.
Genneca Houser
Do you think that, uh, you know, that certain degree of a lack of understanding kind of contributes to, uh, any difficulties that you might have running the business especially recently with some interesting changes to the oil and gas industry?
Amy Anderyszak
Absolutely. I think generally, when people have a, uh, just a better understanding it makes for better policy and, you know, really, uh, the largest component of advocacy is, is education,
Genneca Houser
it kind of seems to be that way that it does seem to be a common trend, especially as I talked to more and more individuals within the industry like yourself. So, actually, how, and that kind of brings me back to how did you decide to get into the oil and gas industry? What what made you decide to go be a part of this arena? So
Amy Anderyszak
I would say, you know, I mentioned that I got into politics broadly about 20 years ago and I would say my my interest in this arena started more from an interest in politics and advocacy more so than an interest specifically in the energy industry. Um so I worked on a congressional campaign during the 2000 election and that's really where I got the politics bug.
Um the candidate that I worked for lost her race. But I came back to Washington and have had a variety of different roles in D. C. In federal government um in the advocacy space. And then about 10 years ago I went to work for um a company called the Loews Corporation. And I was a hired as a federal lobbyist for the Loews Corporation and Lows is a diversified holding company and one uh and they had um multiple uh subsidiaries.
And in my role with lows, I actually worked as the lobbyist on behalf of all of their subsidiaries. And when I started with them, they had three different subsidiaries in the energy space. At that time, they represented an offshore drilling company, a natural gas exploration and production company, and then a natural gas pipeline company were all within the lowest portfolio.
And so that's really um where I got my start in the energy business. And during the course of my tenure with lows and then um beyond when I went into some consulting work I spent the bulk of my time with um the company that was a natural gas pipeline company. And that's really how I got into this subset of the energy business
Genneca Houser
how things work out. Huh? Yes. Absolutely. It you know it does actually make sense though that you'd be driven by something like advocacy. Um I had seen that that you actually still work to try and help make other people's lives better through volunteering opportunities as well. Like such as everybody wins.
Amy Anderyszak
Everybody wins. D. C. Is a is a fabulous organization that I've been involved with. I don't know I think it may be going on close to six years now. Um Where it's a it's a reading mentor program in based in Washington D. C. And the way the program worked pre covid we've we've had to adjust with Covid. But the way it used to work is that a um and a professional adult reading mentor would be paired with a child in the D.
C. Public school system and you would actually read to the same child once a week throughout the school year. And it was just an incredibly rewarding experience. You really got to know these kids and they were giving up their recess time to come read with an adult. Like they were just hungry for this experience and it wasn't about it was it was intended to be, you know, fun for them help foster a love of reading.
You know, it wasn't we didn't we didn't work on homework or those types of things. It was just pleasure reading and just a really great great program. Unfortunately. You know, we've we've struggled to figure out how to to readjust in light of covid we've been doing virtual programs and and you know, like so many other nonprofits. Um obviously it's been a bit of a struggle.
Genneca Houser
I can only imagine, you know, I feel glad for those kids though that they have individuals that they can reach out to and and look towards, especially in this last year when people have been so isolated, probably the volunteers that everybody wins D. C. Has probably been such a light in the homes of those kids that you know, when they weren't able to go to school and even having to do it online, that's probably you know, probably makes such a difference.
Well certainly we hope so. I I hope so too. I'm sure it does though. That just sounds like such a wonderful program but definitely definitely seems kind of right up your alley I guess is what I'm saying with the advocacy area leadership positions. Uh it seems like you're kind of a of a born leader that's kind of neat. So when it comes to advocating for these different things, What is there anything that you think that the public should be made aware about?
I mean, um, obviously you're, you're always trying to get information out to those individuals on the hill that you know could make a difference when it comes to these different policies. But what about what about everybody else, is there anything that you think everyone else should know?
Amy Anderyszak
Well, I don't know that the most americans spend a lot of time thinking about where their energy comes from, Certainly some do, but I just don't think, you know, most people, um, they want to be able to flip the light switch in their house and they want the lights to come on and they want things to work. But I'm not sure that they spend a lot of time thinking about what it takes to make that happen and that there is a necessity for infrastructure in this country to ensure that when you hit
that light switch, your lights are gonna come on and and that, that, that infrastructure is, is really vital and that um, as we have increased demand for energy needs in this country, that it's going to require more infrastructure to be able to deliver on that? And I just think in general, that concept is something that I wish more americans appreciated.
Genneca Houser
So, do you think that more infrastructure is going to bring about more regulations as well or do you think this is going to be, you know, a foundational set up type of a thing.
Amy Anderyszak
Well, I don't think infrastructure itself or the need for infrastructure brings about regulations. I don't think that's it. It's not a causal relationship in that way. I don't
Genneca Houser
suppose I said that terribly. Clearly, I guess I meant a kind of a it kind of seems almost like when building another part of infrastructure, more regulations seem to tend to follow, not necessarily caused by the but yeah, do you, do you think that it'll, it'll bring more regulations, I guess, or um, be accompanied by more? There we go. Be accompanied by more regulations, potentially. Well,
Amy Anderyszak
I think we are definitely in a current environment where, you know, the current, you know, I guess I would say maybe phrase it as, um, policy making leadership, um, seems as if they want to potentially have more regulations in place and don't get me wrong, not, I'm not saying all regulations are bad. I mean, you want to ensure that, um, any new infrastructure that is built in this country is done so in a, you know, in a safe way, safe manner.
I have no opposition to that. Um, you know, as I mentioned earlier, Femsa, which falls under the Department of Transportation, is our main, is our main regulator. So safety regulator with for natural gas pipelines and, and for those that maybe don't, I realize I'm using acronyms, it's the pipeline and hazardous materials Safety Administration under the Department of Transportation and they, you know, regulate natural gas pipelines to ensure that they are safe and that's a
good thing, right? Like that's that's good for the american public. So so there's no there's no um I'm not indicating that regulations are necessarily bad. I think it I think we want to make sure that regulations are consistent and that they're transparent and that they're predictable so that anyone who is developing and building energy
infrastructure, whether that's a pipeline, whether that's wind turbines or solar panels um that it's a it's a a you know, predictable, understandable playing field for all.
Genneca Houser
Yeah that makes sense. Absolutely. So I guess and this this might be kind of jumping a little bit um but to the I. N. G. A. A Foundation interstate Natural Gas Association of America are positive for a moment. The
Amy Anderyszak
Foundation, ...
Genneca Houser
I should just start that. So the inga Foundation is that that is that different than inga?
Amy Anderyszak
Yes, actually it is. So the INGA Foundation is their own separate entity um though obviously were closely aligned, I am actually the President of the INGa Foundation in addition to being the president and Ceo of INGA and um the INGA Foundation Um has a they have a slightly different membership than inga and a slightly different mandate. So the inga membership, our transmission and storage pipeline companies in the United States and Canada and currently we have 25 members of
Inga Inga Foundation has a bra Broader membership they have more than 200 member companies representing natural gas pipeline companies, but the construction companies, engineering firms, piping, compressor manufacturers, accounting firms, all of the different types of businesses which support the construction of the natural gas pipeline industry.
So there they have a much broader membership and their primary focus, they actually don't do any direct advocacy work. The IngA Foundation is not an advocacy organization, rather their primary function is to sponsor research aimed at promoting natural gas use and the safe, efficient pipeline construction and operation.
Genneca Houser
Oh wow, okay, that is, that's pretty cool. So when it comes to the pipelines that have been being put in with Within, say, Let's say it was formed in 1990, right, so Gosh, so that's been going now for three decades. Um what what have have we seen as far as this, what have the studies suggested, I guess as far as environmental and safety trends, how are we doing?
Amy Anderyszak
So, the, the recent um studies from the, from the Foundation have really focused on kind of the ongoing need for um energy infrastructure in this country. And the um the Inga Foundation recently completed a study. It actually was just released in january of this year. Um they called it a sort of a near term update because one of the um Foundation's marquis pieces of research is that every couple years they do um sort of their their midstream infrastructure, you know, study about
and they they do a long timeline, So they often do, um, you know, like a, you know, almost a 20 year timeline of what are going to be the infrastructure needs for this country over sort of a long horizon. And in january they did a an interim study because they were looking at the impacts of Covid, we know that not Covid specifically, but the way that our United States economy responded to Covid and the way um energy demand shifted in the United States during Covid, when people were all
hunkered down in their homes, that that had a direct shift on oil and natural gas demand and production. And um, so they did an interim study to see, do we still have the same expectations? And um, the, the general results of that study was that, that, yes, that once we emerge from sort of the covid lockdown, um, that we do anticipate um, continued need and demand for energy infrastructure in this country.
Genneca Houser
So that's, that's kind of a positive thing then. I mean, right, that's, that's kind of looking like we might end up eventually getting back to normal once, you know, the, the weird restrictions are kind of eased off of across the board. Is that kind of what I'm hearing?
Amy Anderyszak
Absolutely. I mean, that's certainly, I think the anticipation and that's the hope and actually we already saw at the end of last year, lng liquefied natural gas exports, which had definitely decreased sort of during the thick of Covid already rebound at the end of 2020 and into the beginning of 2021.
Genneca Houser
Nice. Well that's, that seems like a pretty good thing then. Um, so, okay, so then being a part of this Foundation and having access to these different studies would probably be immensely helpful when it comes to taking those steps towards advocacy on the hill through inga. That's
Amy Anderyszak
absolutely. I mean, the ingA has definitely used research generated and produced by the INGA Foundation as part of our advocacy efforts in the past. Absolutely.
Genneca Houser
And are these studies, are they made public or are they, are they just released kind of within the industry to professionals in order to continue making positive improvements?
Amy Anderyszak
No. Um, they are made public. You can actually go to the inga Foundation website right now and pull up that um midstream infrastructure report I was just telling you about.
Genneca Houser
Oh, very nice. Well, in that case I'll just have to include a link to it in my show notes. So that would be great. ... That is fantastic. Well, that's really cool. I guess I kind of had an understanding of what it is uh that inga did before talking to you. But I, I don't think I was quite right.
You know what, I feel like, I feel like I was just, just a little bit off. So I really appreciate kind of telling me and and talking with me about all the different aspects of, well, of what you do specifically between both of those organizations actually.
Amy Anderyszak
Well, absolutely, and I think, you know, you were, you were asking a question about sort of public understanding of energy and the answer I gave was was broad, big picture, you know, when you drill down just into the natural gas space. Um one of the things that I always think about is how little people understand the natural gas value chain, that's what we in the business call it the natural gas value chain, where on one end of the value chain is you have natural gas production, so
actually um you know, extracting natural gas out of the ground and then you move it, it often it goes into um you know, a processing facility of some sort and then it moves into what we called the midstream portion of the natural gas value chain and that's where inga sits, those are our members, we represent the midstream portion of the value chain, which is where we through, we have long haul pipelines that move natural gas all across the United States.
So think of us as sort of the, the highway system of natural gas pipelines and then we move that gas from areas in the country where it's produced to the areas where it's consumed and then um those consumers of natural gas, um there's a lot of different types of consumers of natural gas, which is another thing that I think people don't realize natural gas goes directly to local distribution companies.
So it gets directly delivered out to to homes and schools and neighborhoods. Um, or it can go into power plants for electricity generation or it goes to industrial manufacturing facilities where it's used to make all types of common products that americans use every day. Or sometimes it goes to export facilities as we were already mentioning, Ellen liquefied natural gas export facilities, but I don't think people appreciate that there's an entire value chain and that
different aspects of that value chain are represented by different companies businesses and then essentially different trade associations and, and that's what I'll come back to, that inga is the trade Association representing that midstream portion of the value chain.
Genneca Houser
Yeah, well I know that for myself, you know, I, I know just enough about the oil and gas industry to be able to ask questions and basically understand the answers, you know what I mean? I don't, I don't necessarily think that I'm terribly knowledgeable, but I very much enjoy getting to ask these questions because previously, you know, I, I guess I had thought that it would be a bit more cut and dried. I mean five years ago I would never have guessed that there were this many different
organizations and moving pieces I guess within the industry, obviously now I have a completely different picture of it, but um it's, it's been very rewarding, I guess, getting to conduct these conversations, they're not so much interviews as much as conversations with people and get to hear firsthand about what is going on, where you're at, you know, with what you are doing. Absolutely, So that's,
Amy Anderyszak
that's happy to happy to help try to educate you and your audience?
Genneca Houser
Oh absolutely. Well, and you know, there's probably a bunch of people that will be listening to this thinking, well I already knew all about this, you know, because there's a lot of uh you know, industry, well worked industry individuals that I'm sure tune into the crude life every day, Jason space always has real knowledgeable people on there. Well,
Amy Anderyszak
hopefully you and I left uh left today's listeners with something new maybe they didn't appreciate before.
Genneca Houser
Right? I, I know that I really appreciated it. Is there any is there any last thoughts that you would want to, you know, let people know about or is there any place that you think would be a good place to send them for information if they would like to find out more other than obviously the inga website has quite a bit of content on it as well with information, An entire link about pipelines 101 for anyone listening
Amy Anderyszak
so well, thank you, obviously, I was going to direct people to the inga website also, they can feel free to follow us on social media, you know, we're on linkedin and facebook and twitter if if they want to follow us on social media and then I would just say obviously I assume most of your listeners are in the energy industry in some way and would just continue to encourage individuals to be advocates on behalf of the industry.
You know, when, when you're at your neighborhood barbecue and you know, someone speaks ill of you know natural gas or pipelines like that's your opportunity to step up and to educate them. You know, if you're in the industry, you are an expert on your aspect of the energy industry and you should use that knowledge not just when and you're at the office or out in the field but you know also when you're sitting around talking with your friends and neighbors because the better
understanding that the average american has about where the energy they consume comes from and the importance of that energy and the infrastructure that delivers it to their homes and businesses, I think the better off we'll all be
Genneca Houser
Oh absolutely, I do agree. Thank you so much amy. I really appreciate you taking the time especially with as busy as I know that you are so thank you. Well
Amy Anderyszak
absolutely happy to chat with you today.
Genneca Houser
Yeah. And then hey listen, if you've got any big news developments or anything that you know later down the line that you think would be pertinent for an oil field audience to listen to. Uh don't hesitate to reach out if you ever feel like talking again. Great
Amy Anderyszak
will do. Thank
Genneca Houser
you. All right, friends and listeners. That was Amy and Zach and she's the president and Ceo for the Inner State of Natural Gas Association of America. Or, or you can just call it inga less of a mouthful. I think that'd be the best bet anyway. Right, So inga and the inga foundation. So make sure to go and check out links in the show notes. And if you enjoy the content, be sure to check out the rest of what the crude life dot com has to offer.
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The Crude Life Podcast: Amy Anderyszak, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America