The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 21 authorized the Alaska LNG Project, which includes an 800-mile pipeline and a liquefied natural gas export facility. The $40-$45 billion project, developed by Alaska Gasline Development Corp. in partnership with BP and ExxonMobil, is expected to be the largest in the U.S. Democratic Commissioner Richard Glick dissented…...
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on May 14 issued a final rule to update regulations for oil and gas operations in the central and western Gulf of Mexico and the area off the North Slope Borough of Alaska. The changes do not relax any air pollution standards, but make technical and…...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on May 15 denied a water quality permit for Williams Co.’s Northeast Supply Enhancement Project. The $1 billion project is designed to provide about 400,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas capacity to National Grid. The department determined that the project would not meet the state’s rigorous…...
National Grid released a report on May 8 supplementing its long-term capacity analysis issued earlier this year on natural gas capacity constraints in Downstate New York and available options for meeting long-term demand. The supplemental report incorporates feedback received from six public meetings, as well as the changing conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The…...
Dominion Energy Inc. on May 1 filed its 2020 integrated resource plan with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, reflecting the targets of the Clean Economy Act, which requires the company to produce its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. Under the proposal, the company proposes to add 6.7 to 18.8 gigawatts of solar over the…...
Utility commissions in almost a dozen jurisdictions have canceled hearings and revised procedural schedules in several pending electric and natural gas rate cases. A few utilities have committed to delay the implementation of rates, in order to avoid burdening customers amid the difficult circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on April 29 proposed regulations to advance the state’s portion of the 30 percent emissions cap reduction from 2021 to 2030, under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which established the nation’s first regional program to cap and reduce power sector emissions. Following the program update,…...
Natural gas markets have a tendency to react to regional factors while crude oil markets respond swiftly and most times drastically to world events, according to a April 29 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The correlation of daily price movements across the West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, and Brent are typically above 0.90…....
The New England grid operator has proposed a long-term, market-based solution to the region’s energy security problem as the power generation fleet moves towards a mix of energy-limited resources. With the retirement of resources with stored fuel, the system is increasingly reliant on facilities that run on just-in-time natural gas deliveries and weather-dependent wind and solar energy. To address the ensuing challenge, the grid operator proposes to improve the current market structure by creating incentives for the region’s fleet to invest in the energy supply arrangements and technologies on which the region depends.
The Michigan Public Service Commission deferred action on Enbridge Energy LP’s application seeking approval for the replacement of a pipeline segment under the Straits of Mackinac while it considers whether new siting authority is required to build the portion, according to an April 22 news release. Enbridge sought a declaratory ruling that it already has…...
Amid the economic downturn ensuing from the pandemic, state utility regulators are faced with the challenging task of protecting customers from power shutoffs while also considering costs incurred by utilities. A growing number of state commissions are directing utilities to establish a regulatory asset account to capture and track COVID-19-related incremental costs.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on April 16 approved Rover Pipeline LLC’s proposal to increase its mainline capacity by 175 million cubic feet per day, for a total mainline capacity of 3.425 Bcf per day. The Rover Pipeline is a 713-mile natural gas pipeline designed to transport 3.25 Bcf per day of domestically produced natural…...