Energy
New York Regulators Seek to Reform Energy Service Market
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York regulators are launching a comprehensive review of energy service companies, saying the competitive residential market created by utility deregulation hasn’t lived up to its promise. The Public Service Commission filed a notice Friday saying it will solicit sworn testim..
Canada Green Lights 2 Pipeline Projects, Rejects Another
The Government of Canada has ruled on three major pipeline projects: Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion, Enbridge’s Northern Gateway and Line 3 Replacement. Trans Mountain Expansion Project: The Government of Canada has approved Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project, subject to 1..
SoCalGas Deploys Sensors to Detect Methane and Enhance Public Safety
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) has completed demonstration testing of new gas detection sensors employing its Advanced Meter communication system as part of its overall pipeline safety efforts. The sensors can detect natural gas leaks quickly near natural gas pipelines and serves as an e..
North Dakota Lawmakers to Consider New Oil and Gas Industry Rules
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A set of revised administrative rules governing the oil and gas industry in North Dakota will go to lawmakers next month for final approval. The Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eZNIDZ ) reports North Dakota Industrial Commission members in June unanimously agreed to the set o..
Wyoming Study: Fracking Likely Not Behind Well Water Problem
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A final state report released Thursday on foul-smelling well water in Wyoming contradicts an EPA report from five years ago that ignited a national backlash when it suggested hydraulic fracturing was the cause of the contamination. Bacteria were more likely to blame for the pr..
Global Energy, Pipeline Outlook
By Rita Tubb, Executive Editor Underground Construction’s 2016 survey shows 47,693 miles of pipelines are planned or under construction. Of these, 19,115 miles are in the planning and design phase, while 28,578 miles are in various stages of construction. The following reflect pipeline mileage in t..
CenterPoint to Acquire Atmos Energy's Retail Energy Services Business
CenterPoint Energy Services, Inc., an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire Atmos Energy’s retail energy services business, Atmos Energy Marketing, LLC. The purchase price for the acquisition is $40 million plus working capital subje..
1 Dead, Several Injured in Colonial Pipeline Blast
HELENA, Ala. (AP) — For the second time in two months, a pipeline that supplies gasoline to millions of people was shut down, raising the specter of another round of gas shortages and price increases. The disruption occurred when a track hoe — a machine used to remove dirt — struck the pipeline, ig..
Connecticut Abandons Review of Gas Pipeline Proposals
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut energy officials are abandoning a review of pipeline proposals to bring more natural gas into the state and the region. A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says the decision was based on rulings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire ..
Promising Earthquake Resistant Steel Pipe For Water, Oil, Gas
Devastation caused by major earthquakes is well-known – dramatic video clips vividly document the destruction of collapsed buildings, caved-in highways, fallen bridges and debris scattered across the landscape. However, not all damage is visible. Violent shifts underground can rupture water, sewer..
Oklahoma Natural Gas to Pay Over $1M in Fines Over Explosion
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Natural Gas must pay more than $1 million in fines after a gas explosion destroyed one home and damaged about 50 others in Oklahoma City. One person was burned and two people were treated for breathing problems in the Jan. 2 explosion. ONG agreed Wednesday to pay $1.0..
Southern California Gas Co. to Pay $4 Million for Major Gas Leak
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A utility responsible for a massive gas leak that drove thousands of families from their Los Angeles homes pleaded no contest to a criminal charge Tuesday as part of a $4 million settlement with prosecutors. The deal requires Southern California Gas Co. to adopt an expensive leak..
Williams Partners Advances Gulf Connector Project
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco), a Williams Partners L.P. subsidiary, has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking authorization to construct a 475,000 dekatherm per day (Dth/d) expansion in Texas and Louisiana to connect U.S. natural gas suppl..
Enbridge Drops Plans for Sandpiper Crude Oil Pipeline
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Enbridge Energy said Thursday it has dropped its proposal to build the Sandpiper crude oil pipeline across northern Minnesota. Enbridge attorneys notified the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission that the company won’t pursue the regulatory approvals needed for the $2.6 bill..
Construction Underway for UGI's Sunbury Pipeline
UGI Energy Services celebrated the start of construction on its Sunbury Pipeline with a groundbreaking ceremony in central Pennsylvania near the Panda Hummel Station power plant it will serve. The 35-mile-long pipeline will carry natural gas from the Transco interstate pipeline in eastern Lycoming ..
Dominion-Questar Merger Moves Closer After Approval From Utah's PSC
The Public Service Commission of Utah has approved the merger between Dominion Resources, Inc. and Questar Corporation, subject to terms and conditions of an agreed settlement stipulation. With this action, the final regulatory approval needed to complete the merger is pending with the Wyomi..
PG&E Becomes First Natural Gas Utility to Obtain Process Safety Certification
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has successfully passed a comprehensive gas safety audit and has been certified to the chemical industry’s RC14001® management system standard. The audit reviewed numerous end-to-end safety processes at the company, ultimately approving PG&E as the first utili..
Judge Orders Protesters Not to Interfere with Dakota Access Pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering protesters in North Dakota not to interfere with the construction of a $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted the developer’s motion for a temporary restraining order Tuesday. Dakota Access filed a l..
Court: Ratepayers Can’t be Asked to Finance Gas Pipelines
BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts is blocking electric utilities from passing on to ratepayers the costs of building new natural gas pipelines. The Supreme Judicial Court in its unanimous decision Wednesday said state regulators made a mistake in approving the tariffs and authorizing..
Court Hearing Set for Friday on Effort to Halt Oil Pipeline in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — As work progresses on an oil pipeline crossing Iowa, opponents are holding protest rallies and taking the state utilities regulators to court in hopes of stopping construction. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in Des Moines on a motion to stay construction on several parcel..
Oil Pipeline Construction Halted Amid Talks With Protesters
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) —Developers of a $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline halted construction Tuesday while law enforcement and tribal leaders in North Dakota met to discuss a resolution to an ongoing protest. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier says he met with tribal leaders to “negotiate peac..
$3.2B Sabal Trail Pipeline Finalized; Construction to Begin
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Construction of a new $3.2-billion natural gas pipeline that will travel through three Southeastern states could begin within a week after the project received its final approvals on Friday despite years of challenge from environmental groups. The Gainesville Sun reports (h..
Dakota Access Pipeline Owners Sue North Dakota Protesters
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Developers of a $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline sued in federal court Monday to stop protesters near an American Indian reservation in North Dakota to stop interfering with the project, alleging the safety of workers and law enforcement are at risk. Dakota Access LLC fil..
Report: Several Failures Before Oklahoma City Gas Explosion
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Natural Gas failed to investigate the cause of at least eight previous failures on a gas main in a northwest Oklahoma City neighborhood before a January explosion damaged 50 houses and injured one man, according to a new state report. The report was released by the Okl..
PG&E Found Guilty of Obstructing Investigators
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury found California’s largest utility guilty of violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area and then misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines. After deliberating ..
Iowa Landowners Request Immediate Halt to Dakota Access Pipeline Construction
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa landowners are asking a judge to stop construction on the four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline until their constitutional challenges are heard. A dozen landowners asked a state court in documents filed Tuesday in Des Moines to immediately hear the motion and keep the T..
NEB Conditionally Approves Vaughan Mainline Expansion Project
The National Energy Board (NEB) approved an application from TransCanada PipeLines Limited to construct and operate approximately 11.7 km of new natural gas pipeline in the City of Vaughan, Ontario, subject to 19 conditions. The Board’s written reasons will be released on or before September 9, 2016..
Governor Pushes For Bigger Role In Alaska LNG Megaproject
Big oil producers are expressing serious doubts about moving forward with a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas export project in Alaska at a time when world energy markets are flooded with fuel and natural gas prices are half of what they were two years ago. But that isn’t stopping Alaska Go..
Eastern Shore Natural Gas Receives FERC Approval to Construct Facilities in Delaware
Chesapeake Utilities Corp. announced that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved plans by Eastern Shore Natural Gas (ESNG), Chesapeake Utilities’ interstate natural gas transmission subsidiary, to construct pipeline and compression facilities to preserve the reliability and fle..
FERC Approves Williams Partners’ Dalton Expansion Project
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Tulsa, OK-based Williams Partners’ expansion of Transco’s fully contracted Dalton Expansion Project, designed to provide additional natural gas service to utility companies and the city of Cartersville in northwest Georgia. Construction on the..
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