EQT President and CEO Toby Rice (right) shares his views of the energy industry with West Hills Gazette intern Lourdes Daughtry. (Photo by Lourdes Daughtry)

By Lourdes Daughtry, West Hills Gazette

Toby Rice, the president and CEO of EQT Corp., presented his energetic views for the energy industry in a recent interview with the West Hills Gazette.

At EQT’s Carnegie headquarters, Rice talked about the effects of energy poverty around the world, the potential of technology and what will be needed to meet the demands of the coming modern era of energy.

Rice, who is currently the CEO of one of the largest natural gas producers in the U.S., explained how his uncommon career path started outside of the workplace.

While growing up in Massachusetts, Rice had desires of playing professional baseball, but he said his plans changed “because I didn’t have enough talent.”

Rice said that after an unusual rooftop run-in with a raccoon while working as a chimney sweep, he began questioning his options.

“I got in a fight with a raccoon and almost got knocked off the roof,” he said jokingly. “And I was like, man, what am I doing?”

After attending Rollins College to study chemistry, Rice changed his major to petroleum engineering. Then in the middle of the 2000s, he co-founded Rice Energy with his father’s $10 million investment.

“I said, no, Dad, I can’t believe you have $10 million,” Rice said.

That investment led to the creation of one of the country’s leading natural gas producers, which ended up being bought by EQT in 2017.

(To see the rest of the story, visit West Hills Gazette.)

Lourdes Daughtry is a student at Temple University and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.