Energy

HDD Activities OK’d at Another Nexus Gas Transmission Site

FERC has approved Enbridge’s request to move ahead with construction at the Tuscarawas River horizontal directional drill (HDD) site associated with the Nexus Gas Transmission Pipeline. Last month, the commission approved HDD construction activities at the following 11 sites along the project: W..

Gas Service Stops for Thousands of Dallas Homes Due to Leaks

DALLAS (AP) — Natural gas service will be shut down to thousands of Dallas homes following a series of leaks that has brought repeated evacuations in the wake of a house explosion that killed a 12-year-old girl. Authorities announced early Thursday that gas service will be discontinued for up to th..

Air Quality Permit Issued for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A proposed pipeline to bring fracked natural gas from West Virginia to points east and south has won another North Carolina state permit. The Department of Environmental Quality issued Tuesday an air quality permit to Atlantic Coast Pipeline developers for a Northampton County ..

Iowa Officials: Refrigerator Likely Caused Natural Gas Explosion

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a refrigerator likely touched off an explosion of natural gas that ripped through a house in Fort Dodge. The four residents had just been told to leave the house when the blast occurred Feb. 14. Two were unharmed. Two were taken to a hospital. The Messenger ..

Wyoming Joins Iowa, Ohio In Anti-Pipeline Protest Legislation

Wyoming has become the third state to introduce a bill targeting pipeline protests, envisaging penalties of up to 10 years in prison for “impeding critical infrastructure” and up to US$1 million in fines for any organization that “aids, abets, solicits, encourages, hires, conspires, commands or proc..

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Cost Expected to Rise by $1.5B

(AP) — The cost of a controversial natural gas pipeline planned to run through Virginia is expected to increase by more than $1 billon. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Duke Energy is a 47 percent partner in the 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) Dominion Energy-led Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Duke CEO Lyn..

Colorado’s Top Oil, Gas Regulator Joining Energy Consultancy

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s top oil and gas regulator is stepping down to take a job with an energy consulting company. The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said Tuesday Director Matt Lepore is resigning on March 4 after more than five years in the job. He’ll become legal counsel and strategic adv..

Judge Refuses to Delay Hearing on Pipeline Land Acquisition

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has refused to postpone a hearing in a lawsuit brought by developers seeking possession of land in several Virginia counties for a controversial pipeline project. Atlantic Coast Pipeline is seeking possession of several properties in Augusta, Bath, Buckingha..

Nexus Gas Transmission HDD Activities Get Green Light

FERC has approved Enbridge’s request to move forward with construction at the following eleven horizontal directional drill (HDD) locations associated with the Nexus Gas Transmission Project: • Wetland (milepost 7.84 – 8.40) • Nimisila Reservoir (milepost 40.87 – 41.20) • East Branch Black River ..

HDD Activities Can Resume at One Mariner East 2 Site

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced that Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) has satisfied requirements under the July 24, 2017 Consent Order and Agreement (COA), which suspended horizontal direction drilling at Shoen Road Drill 360 (Shoen Road drill) as part of ..

Maryland Official Weighs Special Conditions on Natural Gas Pipeline

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland official says special conditions may be justified for a proposed natural gas pipeline, as opponents to the project are set to rally at the governor’s residence. Ben Grumbles, head of the Maryland Department of the Environment, sent a letter Thursday to the U.S. Army..

TransCanada to Move Ahead with $2.4 Billion Pipeline Extension

TransCanada Corporation today announced that it will proceed with a $2.4 billion expansion of its NGTL System to connect incremental supply and expand basin export capacity by one Bcf/d of natural gas at the interconnection with its Canadian Mainline. The company recently completed an open season f..

2 Injured When Natural Gas Blast Rips Through Iowa House

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — Two people have been injured by a natural gas explosion at their home in central Iowa. The Messenger reports that the four residents had just been told to leave the Fort Dodge house Wednesday afternoon when the blast erupted. Two of the residents were unharmed. The two other..

Colorado Petroleum Council Backs New Pipeline Regulations

The Colorado Petroleum Council released a statement supporting the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) rulemaking that will strengthen flowline regulations and update the 811 “one-call” safety program. The 811 program gives property owners one number to call to notify all utilities ..

North Carolina Republicans Seek Answers About $58M Pipeline Fund

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former Gov. Pat McCrory and other North Carolina Republicans want more answers about an agreement between Democratic successor Roy Cooper and Atlantic Coast Pipeline builders over a $58 million fund. McCrory has criticized the mitigation fund negotiated between utilities creati..

Colorado OKs New Rules for Oil, Gas Pipelines After Fatal Blast

DENVER (AP) — Colorado regulators approved new rules for thousands of oil and gas pipelines Tuesday, 10 months after investigators blamed a leaking pipeline for a fatal gas explosion. The regulations set requirements for installing, testing and shutting down flow lines, which carry oil and gas from..

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Sues for Eminent Domain in Virginia

ROSELAND, Va. (AP) — The company behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is pursuing two eminent domain cases in one Virginia county. The News & Advance of Lynchburg reports ACP LLC officials filed the lawsuit Friday against Nelson County’s Wintergreen Property Owners Association following an inability ..

Pennsylvania Pipeline Work Resumes After $12M Fine, Changes

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania regulators are fining Sunoco more than $12 million for problems with a massive natural gas pipeline project, but letting work resume under a consent agreement. The Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday that Sunoco Pipeline has made changes sinc..

Regulators OK Discharge Permit for Pipeline Expansion Plan

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Regulators have approved a construction stormwater discharge permit for Mountaineer Gas Co.’s proposed natural gas distribution line expansion in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. The Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release Wednesday the permit gives ..

Ohio Town Accepts $7.5M Settlement in Gas Pipeline Fight

CLEVELAND (AP) — A divided City Council in northeast Ohio on Wednesday voted to accept $7.5 million to settle lawsuits and clear the way for construction of a high-pressure natural gas line through the city. It’s a bargain no one in Green in southern Summit County seems happy about. This solidly mi..

Pipeline Builder Offers $7.5M, Land to Settle Lawsuits

GREEN, Ohio (AP) — A northeast Ohio city is considering whether to accept a $7.5 million offer to settle lawsuits with a company building a high-pressure natural gas pipeline. The Green City Council was expected to vote Wednesday night whether to accept an offer that also includes 20 acres of..

Rover Pipeline HDD Activities at Tuscarawas River Can Resume

FERC has approved Energy Transfer Partners’ request to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) activities at the Tuscarawas River in Ohio. On January 24, the commission ordered the company to suspend HDD activities at the Tuscarawas River site due to concerns about potential environmental impa..

API: Natural Gas Helps Create Reliable, Resilient Electric Power System

API has released the following statement highlighting the positive impacts that natural gas offers to power generation and following testimony by nuclear energy advocates at today’s House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing. “Our nation’s electric grid is as reliable as it has ever been as dat..

PennEast Proposal to Use Land for Gas Pipeline Rejected

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s attorney general rejected a proposal for use of state-controlled land for a $1.1 billion natural gas pipeline, slowing the years-long effort by the company to break ground on a project strongly opposed by environmental groups. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in..

Virginia to Get $58M for Pipeline’s Environmental Impacts

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have agreed to spend nearly $58 million to help offset the massive infrastructure project’s environmental impact in Virginia. An agreement outlining the payments was signed several weeks ago by then-natural resources secretary Molly War..

15 Pipeline Protesters Arrested in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state government police arrested 15 people who refused to leave the reception area of Gov. Roy Cooper’s office while expressing opposition to a multistate natural gas pipeline for which his administration issued a key permit last week. The demonstrators held a no..

Will Oil Production, Natural Gas Price Upticks Lead To Pipeline Growth?

By Michael Reed, Contributing Editor While pointing to Hurricane Harvey as the reason for some ambiguity concerning oil prices in the short term, recent Energy Information Administration (EIA) projections have trended favorably for the pipeline industry in the coming year. In fact, with many Gulf ..

Utility & Communications Construction Outlook

By Daniel Shumate Director, FMI Capital Advisors Inc. The utility transmission and distribution, and communication distribution industries remain in a multiyear investment cycle driven by the need to repair, replace and upgrade the transmission and distribution infrastructure across the United Stat..

EPA Examining Further Changes To Methane Leak Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking a second look at its requirement for natural gas pipelines to repair compressor leaks as part of the methane emissions final rule the agency published in 2016. That rule – a new source performance standard (NSPS) regulating methane and volatile org..

New Jersey Regulators Reject PennEast Pipeline Application

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection says an application for a $1.1 billion pipeline to bring natural gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to the state is missing information and is rejected, for now. The DEP said Thursday in a letter to PennEast the company had no..