Energy costs debated at hearing held by Oklahoma Rep. James Lankford

Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, kicked off his first hearing at the helm of the subcommittee on energy policy, health care and entitlements by blaming the Obama administration for regulatory overreach that limited energy supplies, while the top Democrat on the panel countered that oil and gas production was rising under the president's leadership.

Members of Congress have been holding a series of hearings in the last few weeks on fundamental questions about energy supplies and prices at a time when experts are predicting the current boom in oil and gas production could last for decades.

In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said the natural gas boom had lowered “nearly everyone's energy bill.”

Paula M. Carmody, who represents consumers before Maryland's utility companies, told Lankford's subcommittee that customers in the Baltimore area had seen a $300 drop in annual electricity bills between 2009 and 2012.

But Eugene M. Trisko, a consultant for the coal industry, cited statistics over a longer term, saying electricity prices have increased 40 percent between 2001 and 2013.

“These increases are due in part to additional costs associated with meeting U.S. EPA clean air and environmental standards,” Trisko said.