NATURAL GAS

FERC Approves Alaska LNG Project’s Pre-filing Request

The FERC has approved Alaska LNG Project’s pre-filing review request and selected NRG as the third-party contractor to assist with the environmental review process. On September 12, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project participants’ request to commence the pre-filing review process.  The project participants – ExxonMobil,…...

[Report] FERC Natural Gas Market Reforms Aim to Address Winter Reliability Concerns

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) June Gas-Electric Coordination report highlighted industry responses to FERC’s March 20 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The NOPR aims to reform mismatched wholesale electricity and natural gas transportation market operating day, day-ahead, and intraday schedules. Both the natural gas and electric industries support a change in the intraday scheduling cycles…...

Alaska LNG Project Submits FERC Pre-Filing Request

The Alaska LNG Project participants have submitted a pre-filing request to FERC to begin the environmental review required for federal authorization to build and operate the project. On September 8, 2014, the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project participants – ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, TransCanada, and Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) – announced the submission of…...

[Report] NY REV Straw Proposal Recommends Utility-Owned Distributed Energy Resources

The New York Department of Public Service (DPS) staff has issued a Straw Proposal on achieving the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) Track One goals. The straw proposal reaffirms the initial April 24 proceeding which identified utilities’ role in managing a distributed system platform (DSP) and growing the state’s existing Distributed Energy Resource (DER) assets. Despite…...

New 550-Mile Natural Gas Pipeline to Supply Virginia and North Carolina

Four energy companies have formed a joint venture to advance the proposed 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline to transport Marcellus and Utica natural gas to Virginia and North Carolina. On September 2, 2014, Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources announced a joint venture to build the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline to provide…...

State Coalition Defends EPA’s Commitment to Address Power Plant Emissions

An 11-state coalition led by NY Attorney General has filed a motion to dispute a lawsuit by a 12-state coalition challenging EPA’s commitments to address power plant emissions. On September 2, 2014, a coalition of 11 states – California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, the District of Columbia –…...

EIA Report: U.S. Liquid Fuels Growth Counterbalances Global Supply Disruptions

According to EIA, U.S. liquid fuels production growth has significantly contributed to counterbalancing unplanned global supply disruptions and decreasing crude oil price volatility since 2011. On August 27, 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report highlighting the significant role of U.S. liquid fuels production growth in counterbalancing global supply disruptions in recent years,…...

Final Revised Procedures for LNG Export Decisions

The DOE will act on LNG export applications involving non-FTA countries only after completing the National Environmental Policy Act review and halt its practice of issuing conditional authorizations. On August 15, 2014, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy published final revised procedures for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export decisions involving non-Free Trade…...

[Report] Oil and Gas Production from Federal Lands Faces Permitting Challenges

Federal lands contain significant oil and gas reserves, however federal staffing resource challenges have led to decreases in resource development and delayed state and federal revenue. The proposed BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014 (S. 2440) has significant bipartisan support, and its passage would expand and extend upon the current federal land permitting program…...