The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Feb. 17 issued two policy statements intended to enhance the legal durability of its natural gas project certifications and decisions. The first one, an update to the 1999 policy for the certification of new interstate natural gas projects, incorporates landowner protections and environmental justice considerations in the decision-making process…....
Prices for crude oil are projected to remain high enough to drive record output in the U.S. in 2023, reaching 12.6 million barrels a day, according to a Feb. 16 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The Permian Basin is expected to contribute to the growth of overall crude oil production. According to…
Long-term planning strategies of electric utilities across the U.S. reflect the growing trend towards phasing out coal-fired power generation while embracing renewables. Coal power plants account for 85 percent of electric generating capacity scheduled to retire in the U.S. during 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
A coalition of environmental groups on Feb. 7 asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a stop-work order halting all construction activity on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 304-mile proposed natural gas pipeline stretching from West Virginia to Virginia. The move follows two recent decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth…...
Pennsylvania exported 78 million megawatt hours (MWh) of generated electricity to neighbouring states in 2020. This is the highest among any other state, despite other states such as Texas and Florida, producing more electricity, according to a Feb. 7 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. During 2020 more than 230 million MWh of electricity…...
Revisions to rules governing competitive retail electricity markets are focused on strengthening customer protections while exploring ways to expand access to these markets. Recent actions include efforts to open retail electric competition in Arizona, Connecticut’s investigation into supplier offers, and Maine’s update to marketing standards for retail electric services.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Jan. 27 invalidated the Interior Department’s Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale citing failure to accurately consider greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the auction. The sale, Lease Sale 257, held in November 2021, offered about 80 million acres, the largest offshore…...
The Kansas Corporation Commission on Jan. 28 approved a settlement agreement allowing Black Hills Energy to recover $87.9 million in deferred costs related to natural gas service provided during the winter storm Uri in February 2021. The storm affected the south-central U.S., causing widespread outages and forcing natural gas processing plants to shut down. As…...
The National Energy Technology Laboratory on Jan. 24 announced that its Strategic Systems Analysis & Engineering, or SSAE, researchers are working towards using fossil energy resources to produce hydrogen by adopting advanced hydrogen production and carbon capture technologies. The new initiative by the Energy Department national lab is expected to expand the use of fossil-fuel…