U.S. President Donald Trump formally nominated Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to head the Energy Department, according to a Nov. 7 press release. If confirmed by the Senate, Brouillette will replace current Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who announced his resignation last month amid scrutiny for his involvement in the administration’s interactions with Ukraine. The Ukraine…
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. expects more than 82,000 megawatts of resource capacity to be available to meet the system-wide projected peak demand of 62,257 megawatts for the upcoming winter season from December through February 2020, according to a Nov. 7 announcement. The final resource adequacy assessment for winter season 2019-20 includes 136…
Future growth in natural gas consumption will be concentrated in developing nations, especially in Asian, including China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest International Energy Outlook 2019. Annual natural gas consumption in non-OECD Asia is expected to reach 120 billion cubic feet per day by 2050, outpacing regional production by…
The Chinese government introduced a subsidy program establishing new incentives for domestic production of natural gas from tight formations and extending existing subsidies for extraction from shale and coalbed methane resources, according to an Oct. 23 report from the U.S. Energy Information administration. The program, introduced in June, is scheduled to be in effect through…
The California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision on Oct. 21, requiring load-serving entities to procure 4 gigawatts of additional capacity to forestall potential resource adequacy shortages starting in 2021. The order also recommends extension of the Water Resource Control Board’s once-through-cooling regulation compliance dates for about 3.7 gigawatts of gas-fired units slated to…
Natural gas flows out of the Northeast region into the rest of the United States averaged more than 16 billion cubic feet per day during September, between 1 and 2 billion cubic feet per day more than in previous months, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s October 15 Today in Energy. The movement of natural…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, announced that National Grid is being directed to immediately connect more than 1,000 customers that were previously denied service following supply constraints, according to an October 11 press release. The company is currently under investigation and facing millions of dollars in penalties for failing to connect existing residential customers…
The Michigan Public Service Commission is proposing to amend rules governing the technical standards for gas service for utilities under the Commission’s jurisdiction, including cybersecurity measures, according to an Oct. 17 press release. The proposed rules reflect new technologies in the area of metering, equipment inspections and tests as well as removing references to obsolete…
U.S. House Representative James McGovern, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, introduced legislation on Oct. 11 that would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider greenhouse gas emissions when reviewing natural gas pipeline projects. Recent FERC approvals of pipeline projects have drawn attention to the commission’s divided approach to assess greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the need…
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced his resignation on Oct. 17 amid a Democratic-led impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s actions to pressure the Ukraine government to investigate his political opponent Joe Biden. The Energy Department wrote to House Committees that it would not comply with a subpoena demanding Ukraine-related documents, arguing that the House…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Oct. 11 issued a stay of permits issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Mountain Valley Gas pipeline. The order comes on the heels of the company’s agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia to pay over $2 million in penalty and submit…
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin issued a draft environmental impact statement for Wisconsin Electric Power Company-Gas Operations’ Lakeshore Lateral natural gas line, according to the Oct. 4 filling. The draft report identified impacts and minor route adjustments, with recommendations available in the final report. The new natural gas transmission would be approximately 46 miles in length,…