Energy

Iroquois Pipeline President Jeff Bruner Elected Chairman of INGAA's Board of Directors

The board of directors of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America has elected Iroquois Pipeline Operating Company (IPOC) President Jeffrey Bruner as chairman of the INGAA board of directors for a one‐year term, effective immediately. “As the chairman of INGAA, Jeff will lead our industry’..

Ex-Energy Regulators Denounce Trump Bid to Boost Coal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eight former federal energy regulators — including five former commission chairs — oppose a Trump administration plan to bolster nuclear and coal-fired power plants, arguing it would raise prices and disrupt electricity markets. The former officials, who served under presidents fr..

Energy Associations File Comments Opposing Proposed Electric Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule

12 associations representing oil, natural gas, wind, solar, efficiency, and other energy technologies today submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposed rulemaking on grid resiliency pricing. In joint comments, the ass..

Kansas Gas Companies Told to Expedite Pipeline Replacement

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Corporation Commission has rejected a request from three gas companies, sticking to its original ruling that they need to speed up the replacement of obsolete pipeline deemed a safety risk. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the commission ruled in September for ..

Lawmaker Blasts Video Game Allowing Fantasy Pipeline Attacks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota lawmaker wants to impose new restrictions on state funding of the arts after learning about a video game that lets players zap imaginary oil pipelines with lightning bolts. Elizabeth LaPensee received nearly $3,300 from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to c..

Enbridge Knew of Line 5 Damage Years Ago

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The company that operates twin oil pipelines in a Great Lakes waterway says it knew three years ago that protective coating had been damaged but didn’t inform regulatory agencies. Enbridge Inc. says four gaps were opened in enamel coating on one section of Line 5 in Mich..

PSE&G Upgrades NatGas Pipeline Infrastructure Post-Sandy

Five years after Hurricane Sandy left two million New Jerseyans without power, Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) has completed strategic infrastructure investments that, in the event of another Sandy-like storm, will keep critical equipment out of floodwaters’ way and the lights on for..

Video Game Enabling Fantasy Pipeline Attacks Under Fire

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A video game developed by a Michigan State University assistant professor supports “eco-terrorism” by enabling players to zap imaginary oil pipelines with lightning bolts, an industry group said Wednesday, although the designer countered that it’s not meant to incite viol..

Pipeline Protesters Receive Jail Time

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota man and a Rhode Island woman are the first people to be sent to jail for protesting the Dakota Access pipeline. Sixty-four-year-old Mary Redway and 27-year-old Alexander Simon were convicted Oct. 19 of misdemeanor disorderly conduct during the protests in North ..

Database Seeks to Highlight Pipeline Infrastructure Attacks

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An oil and gas industry group is seeking to highlight what it says is an increase in protester attacks on energy infrastructure such as oil pipelines through an online database cataloguing incidents of “eco-terrorism, sabotage, arson, vandalism and violence.” The Energy Equipm..

Illinois Attorney General Sues Gas Company Over Leak

MAHOMET, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois attorney general is suing a Chicago gas company over an underground natural-gas leak that has affected water wells near the central part of the state. The News-Gazette reports the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan against Peoples Gas is based on a refe..

Gas Explosion Kills Pipeline Worker

NAVARRE, Ohio (AP) — A sheriff’s office says a natural gas pipeline explosion in Ohio killed a man doing maintenance work. The explosion Monday killed a Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline worker and caused a large gas leak just south of Canton that forced authorities to evacuate the neighborhood. ..

6 More Protesters Arrested at Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Police arrested six more protesters who tried blocking construction of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania. The protesters now face criminal trespass charges after their weekend arrest in Lancaster County. They tried blocking the entrance to a construction site for the Atl..

More Rover Pipeline HDD Activities Can Resume

FERC has approved Energy Transfer Partners request to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) activities at the following locations along the Rover Pipeline Project: Black Fork Mohican, between mileposts 95.59 and 95.97 Highway 42, between milepost 94.43 and 94.68 According to FERC’s J. ..

Judge to Hear Arguments on Tribe’s Pipeline Contingency Plan

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., will accept arguments over the next month on whether the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline must stage equipment near an American Indian reservation in southern North Dakota to respond to any oil spill under the Missouri River. The ide..

Connecticut Regulators Investigating Gas Utilities for Withholding Pipeline Capacity

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut officials have launched an investigation into allegations of market power abuse by two of the state’s largest energy providers. The Office of Consumer Counsel says the investigation began after university researchers claimed Eversource and Avangrid companies inte..

Oracle Utilities, Navigant Research Unveil Dual Innovation Blueprint Study for Utilities

Oracle Utilities today unveiled a new research paper, titled ‘Utility Innovation Blueprint: How to Manage the Challenge of Dual Transformation,’ which explores how utilities can approach innovation across their people, processes and technology. Commissioned from Navigant Research, the paper comb..

Washington Neighborhood Evacuated after Mudslide Hits Gas Pipeline

EDMONDS, Wash. (AP) — A neighborhood in a Seattle suburb was evacuated after a mudslide breached a natural gas line. KOMO-TV reports that emergency officials responded to the scene at about 5:40 a.m. Thursday in the Snohomish County city of Edmonds after receiving reports of a gas leak. About 30 h..

Colorado Proposes New Rules for Oil-Gas Lines After Blast

DENVER (AP) — Colorado energy regulators on Monday proposed tighter rules for shutting down oil and gas pipelines after a fatal explosion blamed on natural gas leaking from a line that was thought to be out of service but was still connected to a well. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commissi..

Public Meetings Set on Montana Utility's Proposed Gas Rate Increase

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota regulators have scheduled public meetings on a request by Montana Dakota Utilities to raise its natural gas rates. The proposed increase is for $5.9 million annually over current rates, or a 5.4 percent overall increase. The average residential customer would see ..

Minnesota Judge Allows Necessity Defense in Pipeline Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has taken the unusual step of allowing four protesters to use a “necessity defense,” enabling them to present evidence that the threat of climate change from Canadian tar sands crude is so imminent that they were justified in trying to shut down two Enbridge Ener..

Land Preservation Board Approves Easements for Pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A public land preservation organization in Virginia has approved easements that will allow two natural gas pipelines to be built in mountainous areas of the state. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation’s board of trustees approved 11 easements on Monday, the board said on its websit..

Pipeline Construction Project Protesters Arrested

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — More than two dozen people have been arrested at a protest of a $3 billion pipeline being built to carry natural gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to Southern states. Scores of demonstrators gathered Monday on land in Lancaster County’s West Hempfield Township that is owned b..

Federal Regulators Approve Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley Pipelines

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A divided panel of federal regulators granted approvals Friday evening for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley natural gas pipelines, major East Coast projects. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization had been widely expected by both supporters and opponents..

Nevada Regulators Fine Southwest Gas $300000 for 2 Gas Leaks in Las Vegas

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — State regulators have fined Southwest Gas Corp. $300,000 for a pair of natural gas leaks it was responsible for in Las Vegas last year. Nevada Public Utilities Commission Chairman Joe Reynolds told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the fine approved Wednesday for violation ..

NEXUS Pipeline Construction Can Begin

FERC has approved Enbridge’s request to commence construction of the NEXUS Gas Transmission Project, except for the following locations: North Country National Scenic Trail at milepost 3.5 and Iron Horse Trail at milepost 17.0 From milepost 130.5 to milepost 133.0 and milepost 151.5 to milepost ..

HDD Activities Can Resume on Rover Pipeline in Michigan

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has authorized Energy Transfer Partners request to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) activities at the following locations along the Rover Pipeline Project: East Austin Road, between mileposts 62.62 and 63.14 Interstate 71, between milep..

Trump Administration: Court Can't Suspend Pipeline Decision

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration says a federal court has no authority to second-guess a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Justice Department attorneys are due in U.S. District Court in Montana on Wednesday to argue for the dismissal of two la..

NC Gives Qualified No to 3-State Natural Gas Pipeline

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina has said “no” to an interstate pipeline to carry natural gas, marking the first decision of any state or federal agency on the project. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality issued a letter of disapproval last m..

Dakota Access Pipeline Review to Last Until Spring

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says it likely will take until April to finish court-ordered additional environmental study of the Dakota Access pipeline. The agency had anticipated completing the task this year. But attorneys say in court documents filed Friday that it will take ..