Energy

Few Pipeline Inspection Results After Fatal Colorado Gas Blast

DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators say few energy companies have reported the results of state-ordered inspections of oil and gas pipelines after a natural gas explosion killed two people. Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director Matt Lepore warned Tuesday the state could order operator..

CEA Poll: Voters Support Pipeline Construction

A majority of voters in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina support the expansion of domestic energy production and infrastructure, including the approval and construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a new poll from Consumer Energy Alliance reveals. Sixty percent of the voters surveyed i..

Consumers Energy to Invest $440 Million to Upgrade Natural Gas System

Focusing on safety and reliability, Consumers Energy will spend nearly $440 million in 2017 to modernize its natural gas system. “At Consumers Energy, the safe, reliable delivery of natural gas is a top priority,” said Charles Crews, vice president of gas operations for Consumers Energy. “We ar..

Report: Growing NatGas Supply Leads to More Pipeline Construction

ScottMadden, Inc. has released its spring Energy Industry Update,  “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” focusing on trends in the natural gas industry, such as infrastructure development and price risk management. According to the report, natural gas prices remain low across..

West Virginia Senators Urge Appalachian Natural Gas Hub

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s U.S. senators are urging federal officials to consider building a major natural gas storage and distribution hub in the Appalachian region. In a letter Thursday to National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, the senators say the White House should examine ..

UC Riverside and SoCalGas Announce Opening of Renewable Natural Gas Research Center

Southern California Gas Co. today announced the opening of a new Center for Renewable Natural Gas at the University of California, Riverside. The center is the first academic establishment in America dedicated to the study and applied research of renewable gas technologies.  It was funded in part by..

PECO Named Philadelphia's Best Midsize Employer

For the second year in a row, PECO has been named Philadelphia’s best midsize employer in a new ranking from Forbes magazine’s “America’s Best Employers 2017” list. The ranking represents PECO’s ongoing efforts to provide a rewarding workplace for more than 2,500 employees from the Greater Philadelp..

Energy Company Unhooks Gas Lines after Fatal Colorado Explosion

DENVER (AP) — The company that owns a gas well linked to a fatal home explosion in Colorado said Tuesday it will permanently disconnect other pipelines in the area like the one blamed in the explosion. Anadarko Petroleum, which owns the well, did not say how many pipelines would be disconnected. Bu..

Seattle Firefighter Sues After Injuries from Pipeline Explosion

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle firefighter is suing Puget Sound Energy and one of its contractors, saying he has lingering injuries after being knocked out by a natural-gas explosion that leveled two buildings last year. The Seattle Times reports (https://goo.gl/IAvBLJ ) that 50-year-old Jeff Markoff fil..

NTSB Joins Investigation into Fatal Gas Pipeline Explosion

FIRESTONE, Colo. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board has joined the investigation into a fatal Colorado house explosion blamed on unrefined natural gas flowing from a severed pipeline. The Longmont Times-Call reported Wednesday (http://bit.ly/2r2W8Rz) the agency got involved because pip..

Dominion Officially Changes its Name

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Richmond, Virginia-based energy giant Dominion Resources Inc. has changed its name to Dominion Energy Inc. The company said in a news release that shareholders voted Wednesday to approve the new name. The proposed change was announced in February. Chairman, president and CEO T..

Senate Upholds Methane Emissions Rule

WASHINGTON (AP) — Environmentalists notched a rare win in the Republican-led Senate on Wednesday as a GOP effort to reverse an Obama-era rule restricting harmful methane emissions unexpectedly failed. The 51-49 vote against the repeal measure was a blow to the fossil-fuel industry and groups linked..

Colorado Needs More People Monitoring Pipeline Safety

DENVER (AP) — State records show Colorado has only three people assigned to check on the safety of pipelines running from about 54,000 active oil and gas wells, a task that came under scrutiny after a leaking pipeline was blamed for a fatal house explosion. The Denver Post reported Sunday (http://d..

Colorado Pipeline Explosion Brings Calls for Safety but no Quick Fix

DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators have ordered a snap review of oil and gas pipelines after a fatal house explosion near a well, but they haven’t said how they plan to fix a fundamental flaw in the system: They don’t know where all those pipelines are. Matt Lepore, the state’s top oil and gas..

API: Oil and Gas Infrastructure Could Create 1 Million Jobs

API has released a new study that shows private investment in U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure could create more than 1 million U.S. jobs. API contracted with ICF to analyze the scope of the economic opportunity and the amount of oil and natural gas infrastructure development likely in the U..

Colorado Bill Would Help Utilities Produce and Store More Gas

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado Senate committee on Wednesday passed a bill to save a state energy agency from extinction — but with caveats that would drastically reduce the agency’s renewable energy portfolio and make it easier for some utilities to produce and stockpile natural gas. The latter provisio..

Leaky Gas Pipeline Blamed in Fatal Colorado Blast

FIRESTONE, Colo. (AP) — A red-orange fireball that killed two people and destroyed a Colorado home prompted the governor to order sweeping inspections of natural gas lines and is certain to worsen tensions in state already divided over how to regulate the industry. Fire investigators said Tuesday t..

FERC Member Won't Pursue Another Term

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the two remaining members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says she will not seek a second term, a move that could leave the five-member panel with a single commissioner and further hobble its ability to make decisions. Democrat Colette Honorable said Friday ..

Northeastern U.S. Needs Pipelines, Report Says

The lack of pipeline infrastructure in the northeast has caused some of the highest electricity rates in the nation for families and business—and it will only get worse, according to a new report by the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. The latest installment in the Energy Institute..

40 U.S. Utilities Recognized for Environmental Excellence

40 U.S. utilities have been recognized as 2017 Environmental Champions by Market Strategies International’s Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential, a nationwide study of nearly 58,000 customers among 130 of the largest residential gas and electric utility providers. The study scor..

Utility to Use Recycled Sewer Biogas in Natural Gas Pipelines

HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu officials say they are moving forward with plans to sell biogas produced at the city’s sewage plant to Hawaii Gas Co. The gas company says it plans to spend about $5 million on equipment to clean the sewage plant’s biogas before adding it into their pipelines. It also wants..

Commissioners Question Gas Pipeline Replacement

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A disagreement about who should take on the financial burden of replacing miles of dilapidated Kansas gas pipeline is dividing three commissioners no the state’s utility regulatory agency. Shari Feist-Albrecht, Pat Apple and Jay Emler discussed at a Kansas Corporation Commission..

NARUC Creates Natural Gas Access and Expansion Task Force

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners have established a new Presidential Natural Gas Access and Expansion Task Force. Pennsylvania Commissioner John Coleman and Mississippi Commissioner Brandon Presley have been appointed as co-chairs, with North Dakota Commissioner Julie Fed..

Hearings Scheduled for Gas Distribution Project

BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) – Two key hearings have been set to discuss if a proposed natural gas pipeline can be built under Cincinnati’s suburbs. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (http://cin.ci/2ou6x8a ) a public hearing June 15 at the University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash campus will allow citizens to expres..

PECO Welcomes 12 New Apprentice Mechanics

PECO today announced they have welcomed 12 new apprentice mechanics to the company’s field force following their graduation from a comprehensive natural gas training program. The new apprentices will join the utility’s front lines – helping to ensure safe and reliable natural gas service for more th..

Eversource Invests $50 Million to Upgrade Connecticut Gas Lines

As part of Eversource’s effort to modernize its natural gas distribution system for customers, the company is investing $50 million in gas line improvement projects in Connecticut in 2017.  The work involves replacing approximately 20 miles of existing cast iron and steel pipe in New London, Stamfor..

Power-to Gas Tech Could Be Used in NatGas Pipelines, Increase Renewable Energy

In a partnership with University of California, Irvine researchers, Southern California Gas Co. earlier this week announced that new research on power-to-gas technology shows the technique holds the ability to dramatically increase the use of intermittent renewable energy. “The ability to increase ..

Natural Gas Pipeline Initiative Launched in Massachusetts

The Northeast Gas Association has launched a year-long initiative to raise awareness about the importance of natural gas infrastructure to Massachusetts’ economy and its essential role as the Commonwealth transitions to an electricity grid that becomes more reliant upon renewable energy. “Massachus..

Water Gathering Pipeline to be Built in North Dakota

Buckhorn SWD Solutions, LLC has entered into a service agreement with XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, to provide produced water gathering and disposal services in McKenzie County, North Dakota. Buckhorn will construct, own and operate an 87-mile pipeline and dispos..

Utility to Pay $8.5 Million to Settle Suit Over Gas Blowout

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Southern California Gas Co. agreed Wednesday to pay $8.5 million to settle a lawsuit over a well blowout that spewed natural gas for nearly four months and drove thousands of residents from their Los Angeles homes. The utility signed an agreement with the South Coast Air Qu..