EQT Says High Power Bills to Drive Energy Development

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Businessweek

Episode: EQT Says High Power Bills to Drive Energy Development
Date: September 23, 2025
Hosts: Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec
Guest: Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT

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Overview

This episode centers on the surging demand for energy in the U.S.—fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and rising electricity prices—and how these forces are driving new energy development. Toby Rice, CEO of EQT, the country’s leading natural gas producer, shares his perspective on the macro trends in energy, challenges for infrastructure, the role of natural gas, competition from nuclear and renewables, and the importance of policy and market-driven solutions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. State of the Energy Market: Excitement and Volatility

• Short-Term: Rice predicts the natural gas market will be very volatile in the near future.
• Long-Term: There’s “incredible excitement,” with demand expected to grow 20–40% due to replacing coal, AI/data center-driven growth, and LNG (liquefied natural gas) exports.
  — “Natural gas markets in one word, I would say it’s going to be very volatile in the short term and … incredibly exciting [long-term].” (Toby Rice, 02:28)

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2. Why Demand Is Soaring

• AI/Data Centers: Short-term (next 3–5 years), the expansion of data centers will significantly boost gas demand. EQT has already signed contracts supplying enough gas to power nearly two New York Cities.
• LNG Exports: U.S. is set to double LNG exports in five years.
• Electrify Everything Movement: Meeting the needs of AI, electric vehicles, and more could require a 10–18% increase in natural gas demand.
  • “When you step back and look at Electrify everything—not just AI—we’re looking at a 10 to 18 bcf a day natural gas demand to meet that.” (Toby Rice, 03:20)

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3. Natural Gas vs. Nuclear & Renewables

• Nuclear: Rice sees nuclear as promising, but not fast or scalable enough for today’s needs.
  • “What was originally thought to be renewable is going to pick this up. Then people went to nuclear and realized it’s going to take too long…comes back to natural gas. Why? Because we have the track record of scale and speed.” (Toby Rice, 04:47)
• Natural Gas as “Bridge Fuel”: Emphasizes ability to quickly scale and supply reliably; mentions efforts towards carbon capture to achieve zero-carbon natural gas.
  • “Natural gas has a vehicle to become zero carbon...enable natural gas to be the first reliable, affordable zero carbon energy solution.” (Toby Rice, 05:14)

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4. LNG Market Outlook

• Possible Oversupply Around 2027–2029: Rice anticipates a brief oversupply, but their major contracts start in 2030, after which demand tightens again.
• Global Energy Needs: Replacing coal worldwide would require massive investment in natural gas.
  • “Replacing the coal in this world is going to require an additional 170 bcf a day of natural gas.” (Toby Rice, 06:27)

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5. Climate Concerns, Costs, and Infrastructure Bottlenecks

• Rising Energy Bills: Americans are experiencing over a 35% increase in energy costs, which Rice blames primarily on infrastructure bottlenecks—not renewables.
  • “We’ve had a massive infrastructure cancellation movement…That’s the root cause of this issue.” (Toby Rice, 07:20)
• Investment Patterns: Over $2 trillion spent globally on renewables last year, compared to $1.3 trillion on oil and gas, but Rice warns investment spending does not automatically determine the energy of the future.
  • “If you went by where people were spending money, that does not necessarily mean what’s going to be the future.” (Toby Rice, 08:17)
• Balance Needed: Argues for solutions that are “affordable, reliable, and clean,” criticizing energy transitions that over-prioritize one aspect (such as emissions) at the expense of reliability or cost.

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6. Infrastructure and Regulatory Hurdles

• Pipelines and Permitting Gridlock: Infrastructure, especially pipelines, has become “almost impossible” to build since 2018.
  • “We own an asset called Mountain Valley Pipeline, took an act of Congress to get that pipeline built.” (Toby Rice, 09:09)
• Government’s Role: Rice advocates for Congressional reform on permitting and stresses that market forces, not politics, should dominate choices in energy development.
  • “We would be in a much better place if we would let market forces dictate the energy that makes its way to the playing field.” (Toby Rice, 10:25)

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7. Global Perspective & National Security

• Competitive Urgency: The U.S. is falling behind China in building reliable power generation, posing a national security threat.
  • “We put in 6 gigawatts of reliable power generation this last year, China put over 60…most of that coal. So we are not keeping pace.” (Toby Rice, 11:02)

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8. Final Thoughts on Cost and Cleanliness

• Holistic Approach Required: Insists solutions can’t just chase the lowest cost but must consider reliability and environmental impact.
  • “We need to take a holistic approach when we’re looking at energy…That’s why we believe [natural gas] is the energy solution of the future.” (Toby Rice, 11:53)

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9. EQT’s Financial Health and Growth

• Balance Sheet: Confirms EQT is on track to meet its 2026 debt target and has already invested in emission reductions, signing sizable long-term contracts to secure future growth.
  • “Our priorities [are]…ensure the reliable production of energy. Right now we produce over a million barrels a day of energy.” (Toby Rice, 12:55)
  • “We've already made the investments and we've already slashed our methane emissions. We've got one of the best environmental programs.” (Toby Rice, 13:16)

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On shifting energy market:
  “Natural gas markets in one word, I would say it’s going to be very volatile in the short term and … incredibly exciting [long-term].”
  — Toby Rice (02:28)

• On U.S. demand surge:
  “One and a half bcf a day of natural gas supply for these data centers in Pennsylvania…enough power to almost power two New York cities.”
  — Toby Rice (04:09)

• On quick shift to natural gas:
  “Comes back to natural gas. Why? Because we have the track record of scale and speed.”
  — Toby Rice (04:55)

• On global investment in renewables vs. reality:
  “If you went by where people were spending money, that does not necessarily mean what’s going to be the future.”
  — Toby Rice (08:17)

• On national security urgency:
  “We need to do a massive buildout…this is a national security threat for us. We have got to win the race for AI…”
  — Toby Rice (10:50)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:43 — Start of main discussion: Setting the macro context for power bills and AI
• 02:28 — Toby Rice on market volatility/excitement
• 03:20 — Short-term outlook: Data center expansion, LNG growth
• 04:09 — Data centers’ direct impact in Pennsylvania
• 04:47 — Rice on nuclear vs. natural gas scalability
• 06:03 — LNG buyers and demand visibility
• 07:04 — On rising energy bills, causes, and the need for infrastructure
• 09:09 — Pipeline project challenges and the Mountain Valley Pipeline example
• 10:25 — Policy, regulation, and letting markets drive energy
• 11:02 — Global race for reliable power: U.S. vs. China
• 11:53 — The case for a balanced, holistic energy approach
• 12:55 — EQT’s financial stability and environmental progress

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Tone & Language

• Direct, data-driven, urgent: Rice’s responses are grounded in numbers, emphasize speed and scale, and frequently return to the urgent need for more infrastructure and pragmatic energy solutions.
• Balanced, but critical: While respectful of renewables and nuclear, Rice consistently underscores where he believes they fall short and highlights the need for market-led, not politically-mandated, solutions.

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Conclusion

Toby Rice paints a picture of an energy sector at a pivotal crossroads, with surging power demand—driven by the AI/data center revolution—placing U.S. electricity supply and infrastructure under unprecedented strain. He makes the case for natural gas as the only immediately scalable, reliable, and potentially clean (with future tech) energy source, calling for urgent permitting reform and infrastructure buildout to ensure U.S. competitiveness and energy security in a world where demand for power is only headed up.

Transcript

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[Bloomberg Radio Hosts]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Bloomberg reported over the summer that businesses and households served by the largest US power grid will spend a record 16.1 billion to ensure electricity supplies amid a massive artificial intelligence driven demand surge. We are talking about this a lot and having said that, we just talked about what Nvidia is doing with Open air and their spend. That price increase though prompted calls from utilities and energy groups to build more generation. So we want to see what our next guest has to say about it. He is in the midst of it. Toby Rice is President and CEO of EQ T, the nearly $31 billion market cap vertically integrated energy company obviously specializing in nat gas. Toby, good to have you here. I want to start big and broad. The MA macro. How would you describe it right now for you business?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Natural gas markets in one word I would say it's going to be very volatile in the short term and one word for the long term I'd say incredibly exciting. When you look at the three major themes that are that are hitting energy right now, the Desire to continue to evolve our energy systems, replacing coal with natural gas. Major theme AI is what everybody's talking about right now. That's a major, that's going to be a major source of demand. And then providing energy security to our allies is still a thing. And that's going to be playing on the lng. You step back and you add it all up. We're Talking about a 20 to 40% increase in natural gas demand in this country.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Well, let me just ask you because before that let's go back. That's longer term. But I know our people have put some research and they talked about North American gas is at an inflection and they talked about data centers and adding to domestic demand near Appalachian supply while LNG exports sustained global. But so tell us about the shorter term. Is there a little bit of an inflection point for you?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

I'd say the next, the next three to five years data centers and fueling the AI revolution is going to be a very big focus. But keep in mind we're going to be doubling US LNG exports over the next five years. So we're doing both of these at once. And the good news is that we've got the natural resource in this country. It's just going to come down to how fast we can actually get this infrastructure built. Focusing specifically on the power demand side of things. When you step back and look at Electrify everything, not just AI, we're looking at a 10 to 18 bcf a day natural gas demand to meet that. That's a 10 to 18% increase in demand. And about 4 to 6, about 40% of that is going to be for data centers. So it's going to be. This can be really big. We're seeing these opportunities happen in our backyard. Eqt, we signed up over one and a half bcf a day of natural.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Gas in cubic feet. For those who might not.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

And this is a market that's about 100 bcf a day. Just make the numbers ballpark. So one and a half bcf a day of natural gas supply for these data centers in Pennsylvania and this is going to generate enough power to almost power two New York cities. So these are major league infrastructure projects in a grid that desperately needs more power generation.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

The tech companies like to talk about nuclear power generation powering their data centers. The President likes to talk about the promise of nuclear power. And I say promise of it because we know how to do it, but it just takes a long time and it's very expensive. How do you View the increased interest in recent years in nuclear power as a threat to your business.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

I think that natural gas is the clear winner right now. You know this has been a big question that people have been asking over the last, call it 18 months. What is going to power this revolution? What was originally thought to be renewable is going to pick this up. Then people went to nuclear and realized it's going to take too long to get it done. Comes back to natural gas. Why? Because we have the track record of scale and speed. If you look over the last 10 years, we've seen natural gas power demand increase 14 bcf a day. So think about how much we're planning on doing. We've done that with natural gas. Now longer term we think nuclear is going to be a great option. But understand this, natural gas has a vehicle to become zero carbon and that's why we're spending a little bit of money today on carbon capture that will enable natural gas to be the first reliable, affordable zero carbon energy solution. The world does not have that today.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

You know, just like there's a big spend in AI and data centers, there seems to be a big spend in that energy to support it and what's needed. You have announced multiple, multiple long term sales and purchase agreements. I think just in the last few months. Some are fearing an oversupply to be in 2027, 2029. What are you hearing from LNG buyers about kind of your demand visibility window and how confident are you? It sounds like you're pretty confident on the longer term pull for LNG or us LNG specifically?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Yeah. On the LNG front we certainly wouldn't disagree. We do see a little bit of an oversupply situation globally for LNG that could lead to softer prices in that 27 to 29 time frame that you mentioned and you say, well Tobe, why did you just go and sign up for a massive amount of lng? It's because our contracts are going to be starting. We're going to be getting that exposure in 2030. So this oversupply will pass. And then we're back to a tight situation and that's where LNG is hitting the market. When you want to talk about demand, just step back and look at this world. For a world that's going to continue to care about climate and emissions, replacing the coal in this world is going to require an additional 170 BCF a day of natural gas. If you care about the people living on this planet, it's going to take an additional 120bc how sure are you.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

That people care about that? We are certainly feeling this year a pushback. Well, when it comes to concerns about carbon emissions and climate.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Yeah.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Not from everyone. And I have to be very careful because there are a lot of folks that are working really hard on this area. Yeah, but how.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Yeah. Confident and comfortable on the energy transition. There's, there's a ton of people that are passionate about this. And that passion is not going to go away with just one election. But I think what is happening now is people are stepping back and they're looking at the plans they put in place and they're looking at the results of those plans. And what we're seeing is that Americans energy bills are up over 35% now. Renewables is not to blame for all of that. We've had a massive infrastructure cancellation movement that's prevented us from getting energy infrastructure built. That's the root cause of this issue. But when you step back and look at how much, how big of an impact this has had. We spent over $2 trillion on renewables last year. And put that in perspective. We spent over $1.3 billion in oil and gas. The energy solution that provides that, again, $2 trillion in renewables.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

What do you mean?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

We spent the world invested over $2 trillion in renewables build out and. Yeah. And then for comparison, oil and gas investments that, that provides over 80% of the world's energy. We invested over $1.3 trillion. So this has been a very big theme.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

But it's, it shows to you that people are. This is the future is renewables. That's where they're spending money. Is that what you're saying?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

If you went by where people were spending money, that does not necessarily mean what's going to be the future. The future of energy is going to be the energy solution that is affordable, reliable and clean and has all three of those attributes in check. I think the energy transition maybe has prioritized the clean aspects of energy. But as we're seeing right now, Americans are scratching their heads looking to see the record amounts of energy investments that we're making. And they're the record amounts of energy production in this country. And their energy bills are up 35%. They're scratching their heads. Why? Why is this happening? It's because the solutions that we're putting on, on the field need to be the right solutions, and that is natural gas.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

But it's also because, as you said, the demand has gone up for years. It was, it was kind of flat. It was stable and Then we saw this huge increase in demand for power here in the US So demand has a lot to do with it too.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Well, demand hasn't really started to pick up just yet. We're coming out of it. I think we're looking at massive growth. Prof. Prospects. But this really is a repercussion from all of the not underinvestment in reliable infrastructure over the past decade. Now this country In America, since 2018, it's become almost impossible to get a pipeline built in this country. We own an asset called Mountain Valley Pipeline, took an act of Congress to get that pipeline built. So infrastructure has been incredibly challenged and that has really strained markets and really put some, some stress on the system.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

So let's talk about those challenges. Are you having constructive conversations, are you having any conversations with the Trump administration, representatives from the Trump administration to try to ease those regulatory delays?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

So this administration truly understands how important affordable and reliable is in the energy equation. You know, Secretary Wright, fabulous. Really understands energy, all forms of energy. So I think we're going to have some, some practical approach towards energy solutions that we put in place. But, but that being said, the executive branch is not going to dictate the types of energy that we put in this country. We're going to need Congress to act to pass meaningful permit reform so we can get back to letting the most cost effective, reliable, cleanest form of energy.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

Do you consider wind power a form of energy?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Absolutely.

[Bloomberg Interviewer 2]

It doesn't seem like this administration supports that. Yeah, I mean, is that a mistake?

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Well, I would say it's as a, as a sponsor of a pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline, that has had, has been subjective to tremendous political force. This is a situation where I think we would be in a much better place if we would let market forces dictate the energy that makes its way to the playing field. Let political force take the backseat. Unfortunately, we are going to need some help from our leaders in Washington D.C. i hope they notice that we've got a massive demand surge coming. We do not have the right infrastructure set up right now. We need to do a massive buildout. And just for people understand the race that we're in right now, this is a national security threat for us. We have got to win the race for AI and, and right now how we're faring in the US where we put in 6 gigawatts of reliable power generation this last year, China put over 60 of gigawatts of reliable power gen, most of that coal. So we are not keeping pace. We need to do a lot more.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Just want to go back to cost just because it's cheap. And I understand there's other parameters that you're putting in there. I mean there are nat gas, there are, you know, leaks and so on and so forth that do impact the environment. So it's not the cleanest and purest. There are, there are problems with it. And I just wonder if we're always constantly chasing, producing the cheapest thing out there, that's not necessarily a good thing. And just bring up all the manufacturing that we've put outside the United States just because it was a cheaper good that we're finding, maybe that wasn't such a good strategy. So I just want to bring that back to the energy sector that maybe sometimes things have to be expensive to get to a really, really smart solution.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

I think we need to take a holistic approach when we're looking at energy and we need to look at the balance between cost, reliability and the carbon footprint associated with that energy. That's why when we look at those attributes for natural gas, that's why we believe that this is the energy solution of the future. When you look at regions that ignore and just over prioritize the clean aspects of energy, you have situations like Europe and we've seen what's happened there. It's been a crisis. Thank goodness for American America and the energy that we've been able to provide them, to get them through this with our lng. So it's got to be a balanced approach. It's not all going to be about cost, it's not all going to be about reliability or carbon footprint. It's got to be a healthy balance, balance of three. Right now we need to get back to the affordable, reliable.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Speaking of balance and I just want to go to your balance sheet because there is a spend, right? Everybody's doing it because they are chasing this. I spend and trying to be there in terms of support. You guys have talked about working down to a 20, 26 year end debt target of 5 billion. I think that was after the Equitrans deal. Tell us about what you're considering to help prop up your balance sheet and just got about 30 seconds.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Three seconds. 30, 30, 30 seconds. I'll tell you what our, what our priority, what our priorities are right now, ensure the reliable production of energy. Right now we produce over a million barrels a day of energy.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

So anything that you need to do to meet that, you're not worried about.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

The spend for maintenance, for maintenance volumes levels, we're going to be reliably providing the future by signing up these these growth contracts both on LNG and the dataset Build out and from a from a cleanliness perspective, we've already made the investments and we've already slashed our methane emissions. We've got one of the best environmental programs.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

So it sounds like the spend and the debt's okay for now.

[Toby Rice, President and CEO of EQT]

Yes.

[Bloomberg Interviewer]

Okay. Going to leave it there. Toby Rice, President CEO of EQUI EQT.

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