Energy

Coroner: Utility Worker Killed by Debris from Gas Explosion

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — A coroner says a utility worker was killed by flying debris when a Pennsylvania house exploded while he was responding to a reported natural gas leak. The National Transportation Safety Board continues to lead the investigation into Sunday afternoon’s blast in Manor Township. ..

Peak Utility Services Group Acquires Kelly Cable

Peak Utility Services Group, a utility services provider serving natural gas, telecom, and electric utility markets in the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West regions of the United States, has acquired Kelly Cable of New Mexico. As part of the transaction, Mike Ford, the President of Kelly Cab..

Sabal Trail Pipeline Officially Operational

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (Sabal Trail), a joint venture of Spectra Energy Partners, LP NextEra Energy, Inc., and Duke Energy, has placed into commercial service its pipeline system and facilities from Alexander City, Alabama, to the Central Florida Hub in Kissimmee, Florida. “Sabal Trail has s..

Utility Worker Killed in Apparent Gas Explosion Identified

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a utility worker killed in an apparent natural gas explosion that destroyed a Pennsylvania house and injured several other workers over the weekend. The Lancaster County coroner’s office said 54-year-old Richard Bouder, of East Lampeter To..

NTSB Heading Investigation into Fatal Natural Gas Explosion

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into an apparent natural gas explosion that destroyed a Pennsylvania home and killed a utility worker. The UGI Utilities worker was checking out a reported gas odor when the house in Manor Township, near Lan..

129,000 Oil, Gas Lines Identified Near Buildings in Colorado

DENVER (AP) — Colorado has nearly 129,000 underground oil and gas pipelines within about 1,000 feet (300 meters) of occupied buildings, according to energy company reports ordered by the state after a fatal house explosion blamed on a severed gas line. Friday was the deadline for companies to test ..

Louisville Gas and Electric Nearing Completion of 20-year Gas Main Replacement Project

Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) has announced it is completing the final steps in a gas main replacement project in Louisville, Kentucky that began more than two decades ago. As part of the project, LG&E upgraded 540 miles of cast iron, wrought iron and bare steel pipes with more durable..

Application for $3.2 Billion Gas Pipeline Withdrawn

BOSTON (AP) — Two of Massachusetts’ largest utility companies have halted a $3.2 billion natural gas pipeline project, citing funding uncertainty. Pipeline operator Enbridge Inc., a partner in the Access Northeast project along with Eversource and National Grid, informed the Federal Energy Regulato..

$14 Million Pipeline Construction Contract Awarded

Crossfire, LLC has been awarded a $14 million contract from New Mexico Gas Company to reroute approximately six miles of natural gas pipeline in the Río Grande Gorge along State Road 68. The project consists of replacing 8-inch-diameter natural gas pipe with a larger 12-inch-diameter pipe to accomm..

API Releases 50-State Analysis Of Natural Gas Benefits

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has released a new study on the benefits natural gas brings to the nation in terms of consumer savings, family-sustaining jobs and economic growth. The study shows that all 50 states benefit from natural gas produced domestically, including non-producing states..

Application for PennEast Pipeline Closed Over Deficiencies

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey regulators have closed an application for a more than $1 billion natural gas pipeline starting in Pennsylvania and ending in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday in a letter to PennEast that its request for a 60-day extensi..

2 Dead, 3 Injured After Indiana House Explosion

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Firefighters found two bodies in the basement of a southwest Indiana house after it was destroyed by an explosion and fire Tuesday that also injured three people. Searchers located the first body amid the rubble about four hours after the explosion was reported around 8:45 a..

Mountain Valley Review Finds Limited Environmental Impacts

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — An environmental assessment of the proposed Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline finds the project would have “significant” impacts on forests in Virginia and West Virginia but “limited” other adverse effects. The analysis was published Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Co..

Couple Escapes Just Before Gas Explosion Rocks LA Home

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say an elderly Los Angeles couple escaped just before an explosion rocked their home after a contractor accidentally severed a gas line. Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Butler says the couple was saved by a gas company worker who called them out of the house moment..

Settlement Approved in 2016 Seattle Natural Gas Explosion

SEATTLE (AP) — The state’s largest energy utility will pay at least $1.5 million for a natural gas explosion in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood last year. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission on Monday approved a settlement between Puget Sound Energy and commission staff reached ..

Poll Shows Northeastern U.S. Favors Pipeline Construction

According to a new poll from Consumer Energy Alliance, an overwhelming majority of voters in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York support energy delivery of transportation fuels and the use of natural gas infrastructure – including the approval and construction of more pipelines in..

Downed Power Line Ignites Gas Leak in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Residents of about 40 homes near Pittsburgh have been forced to stay inside after a downed power line ignited a leaking natural gas line, causing a fire. A tree downed by lightning is being blamed for knocking down the wire early Monday, just after midnight. Sparks from the downed..

Major Gas Pipeline to be Fully Operational This Month

OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — A 515-mile underground natural gas pipeline in Alabama, Georgia and Florida is expected to be fully operational by the end of the month. The Sabal Trail pipeline will be partially in use next week, The Opelika-Auburn News (http://bit.ly/2s5snlI ) reported. The pipeline was con..

California to Require Utilities to Plug Gas Leaks Big and Small

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California regulators adopted a stricter rule Thursday that requires utilities to plug leaks in natural gas lines. The rule adopted by California Public Utilities Commission aims to cut 40 percent of the potent greenhouse gases emitted from leaking pipes and gas distribution syst..

Agencies Delay Methane Rules Opposed by Oil, Gas Industry

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is delaying two Obama-era regulations aimed at restricting harmful methane emissions from oil and gas production. The Environmental Protection Agency said it is seeking a two-year delay for oil and gas companies to follow a new rule requiring them to monit..

Technology Helps Utility Reduce Methane Emissions from Pipeline

Southern California Gas Co. recently used innovative gas capture technology to empty natural gas from a permanently abandoned pipeline in Santa Clarita, Calif.  The special process enables gas to be saved for later use while eliminating noise and emissions that occur in the traditional venting metho..

PG&E Senior VP and Chief Nuclear Officer to Retire

Edward D. Halpin, Senior Vice President, Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and a 35-year veteran of the energy industry, has announced his retirement, effective December 31, 2017. “Ed has done an outstanding job leading our nuclear and power generation operat..

Gas Pipeline Project Expected to Cause Traffic Delays in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – A utility company will be realigning a six-mile stretch of natural gas pipeline along New Mexico State Road 68, causing traffic delays in the height of the Rio Grande tourist season. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported (http://bit.ly/2s5GBmo ) Wednesday New Mexico Gas Co. plans ..

Eversource Starts Pipeline Construction Project in Connecticut

Eversource Energy has started construction on a multi-phase project that will improve the reliability of the company’s natural gas distribution lines in Connecticut The company will invest $14 million in 2017 on the first phase of a 17-mile-long project that, once completed, will connect existing g..

Rice Electronics Launches Connected Worker Solution

Rice Electronics has launched the Connected Worker Solution with Intel® IoT technology. Designed to improve the safety and productivity of field workers in industrial environments, the end-to-end IoT solution using Rice Electronics smart devices along with Intel-based IoT gateways provides robust co..

West Virginia's Senators Urge Appalachian Natural Gas Hub

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s U.S. senators have introduced legislation intended to help establish a major natural gas storage and distribution hub in the Appalachian region. Their legislation would designate it a “critical energy infrastructure” project, which they say would make ..

FERC: Company Can't Resume HDD Activities for Gas Pipeline

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal agency has told a company building a high-pressure natural gas pipeline it cannot resume drilling beneath creeks in southeast Ohio and northern West Virginia. The Columbus Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2qu1x2r ) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thu..

Carbon Emissions Rule in Washington State Under Fire

SEATTLE (AP) — Even as the Trump administration seeks to roll back Obama-era rules to curb greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants, Washington state is forging ahead with its own rules to cap carbon pollution from big industrial facilities. But the state faces legal challenges as ..

Company to Shut Down Well Linked to Fatal Colorado Gas Explosion

FIRESTONE, Colo. (AP) — The company that owns a gas well linked to a fatal home explosion in Colorado says it will permanently shut down that well and two others in the neighborhood. Anadarko Petroleum announced the shut-down Wednesday in Firestone, where an April 17 explosion killed two people. In..

Texas Oil and Gas Regulator Can Operate for 12 More Years

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed House Bill 1818, which reauthorizes the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulator, to operate for another 12 years. A committee of lawmakers, known as the Sunset Commission, is in charge of reviewing the agency. In 2016, the Railroad Commissio..