Since early 2014, when the U.S. began exporting ethane by pipeline to Canada, infrastructure additions have facilitated shipments to more destinations including Brazil, India, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, according to a Feb. 5 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. became the world’s top ethane exporter, surpassing Norway in 2015.…
Measures for carbon emission pricing and studies have so far this year surfaced in at least nine states, spanning from politically moderate Montana to progressive New York. Hawaii has a proposal to investigate how to implement a carbon tax while limiting its impact on lower income residents. In Oregon, legislation has been introduced for a cap-and-trade system to implement economy-wide carbon pricing. California is considering a bill that seeks a mechanism for assessing a carbon tax on retail products. Connecticut is considering a proposal for a regional collaborative on assessing such a fee.
Michigan’s electric choice customers had about 1,970 megawatts of demand, as of December 2018, an increase of about 8 megawatts from the prior year, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s report on electric competition report released on Feb. 1. Electricity consumption rose despite a decline in the number of customers to 5,819, from 5,929…
The Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction unveiled legislation on Feb. 4 that would establish the Oregon Climate Action Program to place a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for entities whose annual emissions exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The bill would set an annually declining emissions budget, starting in 2021 to put the…...
Dominion Energy Inc. has bumped up the estimated cost of its 604-mile natural gas pipeline from $6 to about $7 billion, adding that it also expects the project to be delayed until early 2021 following permitting issues. Thomas Farrell, Chief Executive Office, said in a Feb. 1 press release that the company is “actively pursuing multiple paths to…
The Virginia state House of Delegates on Jan. 31 voted 86 -12 to reject a bill that would have required all of the state’s electricity to come from clean energy after 2036 while also placing a moratorium on new fossil fuel developments. (HB 1635) The bill would have put Virginia in line with California, District…
Georgia Power Company proposed to close four of its coal generation units at Plant Hammond and one unit at Plant McIntosh as part of its 2019 integrated resource plan filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission on Jan. 31. Hammond and McIntosh plants have a capacity 800 megawatts and 163 megawatts, respectively. The company requested…
The Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Imports and Exports Third Quarter Report 2018 highlights all the important transactions of the precious fossil fuel from July through September last year. Total U.S. exports were 918.7 Bfc, about 13 percent higher than the previous quarter and about 24 percent higher compared to 2017. Total imports decreased by 0.1…
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $28 million in funding for a research program that aims to develop new technologies for floating offshore wind turbines, according to a Feb. 1 press release. The department recognizes that the U.S. has the potential to lead the world in the development of offshore wind energy, particularly in floating…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that the construction of Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur Liquefaction Project, a natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Texas, and the associated pipeline projects would result in some adverse environmental impacts, which would be reduced to less-than-significant levels, according to a Jan. 31 notice. The facility, proposed by Port…
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued an order on Feb. 1 clarifying ownership of capacity and energy rights of facilities under net metering and Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, programs participating in the ISO New England Inc.’s forward capacity market. The order allows owners of storage-paired facilities to retain their energy or capacity…...
Interstate Power and Light Company anticipates that over the next decade it will have a surplus of renewable energy credits to the tune of between 1.5 million to 5.5 million per year, relative to Iowa’s current renewable energy requirements, according to a Jan. 31 filing by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Interstate Power and Light…
