Ex-Steeler imparts Batch of wisdom at Appalachian energy event
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Charlie Batch, a former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, was the keynote speaker of the Appalachian Regional Conference held Thursday at the DoubleTree on Racetrack Road in North Strabane Township.
Jake Fells of BTU Analytics does a presentation on the “Appalachian Basin Energy Forecasting and Economic Outlook,” to energy industry specialists at the Appalachian Regional Conference at the DoubleTree Hotel on Racetrack Road in North Strabane.
Lunch had just ended at the Appalachian Regional Conference. Tables were being cleared and the keynote speaker stood on the periphery.
It was, in football parlance during football season, halftime of Thursday’s event at the DoubleTree Hotel-Meadow Lands. Who better to stride to the mic than a longtime quarterback from Western Pennsylvania who is known for his levelheadedness.
“This is a challenge flag,” Charlie Batch said, holding up a red cloth that is all too familiar in National Football League games. Head coaches wanting to challenge an official’s call during a game toss it onto the field.
“Sometimes,” he paused, “you have to throw the challenge flag on yourself.”
Batch, a 15-year NFL veteran and longtime Pittsburgh Steelers player, urged an audience of about 100 – mostly energy company officials – to challenge themselves during a 30-minute speech that was equal parts stirring, humorous and tragic. Batch is no energy expert, but he energized the midday crowd with his wisdom at the second annual conference.
Believe in yourself, he exhorted everyone, and “be prepared” for all situations. He said that served him well at Eastern Michigan University, from which he graduated, in the NFL and as an entrepreneur who founded the Charlie Batch Foundation, which has served hundreds of young people. The foundation was formed in response to the 1996 shooting death of his sister, who was in the crossfire of rival gangs in their native Homestead.
There were speakers throughout the day, including Tucker Perkins, president of the Propane Education and Research Council, whose touting of propane was interesting.
“We are, by far, the top producer of propane in the world,” he said. “Propane is never as cheap as natural gas, but it has low-carbon attributes with efficiency. I think propane has a great future.”
Propane, he pointed out, reduces costs and is environmentally friendly. Perkins said outdoor power equipment that runs on propane cuts costs by 30 to 50 percent and emissions by 50 to 60 percent. Using one propane-fueled school bus, he added, can save $5,000. “One school district said it was able to hire five teachers by switching from diesel to propane.”
Jake Fells, senior managing energy analyst for BTU Analytics, talked about natural gas and pipeline issues. He drew laughter when he displayed a map showing the “Wall of Cuomo.” It was a line running along the border of New York state, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo is accused of being anti-pipeline and delaying infrastructure projects. Transporting natural gas to New England from the bountiful west is considered to be a thorny issue.
Fell focused some of his presentation on drilling in the Southwest Appalachian Basin – partly this region – where, he said, about 21/2 times as many wells are being drilled compared with northeast Pennsylvania.
“Higher pricing and improved efficiencies,” he added, “are driving stronger wellpad economics.”