Energy

Colorado Won't Put Oil-Gas Pipeline Map Online

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper says the state won’t offer an online map of oil and gas pipelines after a fatal house explosion that was blamed on a leaking pipe, citing security concerns. Hickenlooper said Tuesday Colorado will instead expand an existing service that allows people to..

Colorado to Tighten Pipeline Rules After Fatal Gas Explosion

DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials say they will strengthen regulations for oil and gas pipelines to reduce the chances of another home explosion like one that killed two people in April. Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the rule-tightening on Tuesday. It’s one of seven steps recommended by state reg..

Saginaw Trail Pipeline Construction Begins

Consumers Energy has started construction on the Saginaw Trail Pipeline, a five-year, approximately $610 million project in Saginaw, Genesee and Oakland counties to increase natural gas reliability and safety in Michigan. Crews of about 450 union skilled trades workers from Consumers Energy and con..

Pressure Mounts on Officials Weighing Pipeline Projects

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Pressure is mounting on Virginia officials to slow or reconsider the water quality certifications they intend to issue for a pair of natural gas pipeline projects. The Richmond Times Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2weTFJn) that hundreds attended public hearings this month to e..

Police Investigating Natural Gas Explosion in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities have launched an investigation into a natural gas explosion that seriously injured two people, leveled a house and significantly damaged nearly 20 other homes in Lincoln. Police are focusing on the home where authorities believe the explosion occurred Monda..

Court Rules New York Had Power to Deny Key Pipeline Permit

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — In a decision held up as an affirmation of the right of states to reject major oil and gas infrastructure, a federal court ruled Friday that New York acted properly when it blocked plans for a 124-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania’s shale fields. The U.S. Court o..

North Carolina Agency Getting More Public Input on Pipeline

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — The public is getting more formal opportunities to speak up about a proposed natural gas pipeline running through eastern North Carolina. The state Department of Environmental Quality scheduled three “listening sessions” this week on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline projec..

Company: Pipeline Construction Project Was Sabotaged

CANTON (AP) – Officials from the company building twin high-pressure natural gas pipelines across northern Ohio have told federal regulators that sabotage or leaky equipment caused drilling slurry to become contaminated while cleaning up a spill near the Tuscarawas River. The Canton Repository repo..

Pipeline Construction Project Gets Favorable Ruling

CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal magistrate in Akron has dealt a significant blow to efforts by some Ohio property owners to stop a high-pressure natural gas pipeline from being built. U.S. Magistrate Kathleen Burke in a written recommendation filed Monday said the U.S. District Court in northern Ohio la..

Tribes Want Dakota Pipeline Shut Down, But Offer Fallback Plan

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — American Indian tribes fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline are asking a judge to shut down the line while more environmental review is conducted, but they’ve also presented a fallback plan should the judge disagree. The “alternative relief” that Standing Rock Sioux attorne..

Virginia Citizens Can Weigh in on Pipeline Water Quality Conditions

HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) – Virginia environmental officials are hearing from residents this week about steps the state is taking to protect water quality along the routes of two proposed natural gas pipelines. The Department of Environmental Quality is considering whether to issue what’s called a “40..

Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Favorable Ruling

CONESTOGA, Pa. (AP) – A federal judge in Pennsylvania says authorities can condemn and seize property in order to make way for the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. U.S. Eastern District Court Judge Jeffrey Schmehl has issued an order that gave Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company the right to condemn a..

School Blast Investigators Probing Gas Meter Work

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Workers may have been moving a gas meter when an explosion tore through a Minneapolis school building this week, killing two people and injuring at least nine others, according to federal investigators. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Minneapolis T..

NTSB Investigates Explosion that Killed 2 at Minnesota School

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were sent to a Minneapolis school Thursday to look into an apparent natural gas explosion and partial building collapse that killed two people and injured at least nine, including one critically. The explosion at Minneha..

Report: Pipeline Review Underestimated Forest Fragmentation

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation along with several state agencies say an analysis by the Mountain Valley Pipeline on the project’s impact on intact forests underestimated the effects by more than 300 percent. The Roanoke Times reports that in a July 21 fil..

FERC Issues New Natural Gas Project Guidelines

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects has finalized its revised Guidelines for Reporting on Cultural Resources Investigations for Natural Gas Projects, which were issued in draft form on January 25, 2017, for comment. The guidelines have been altere..

Natural Gas Council Releases Resilience, Reliability Guide

The Natural Gas Council, which collectively represents companies that produce, transport and deliver clean, affordable natural gas throughout the United States, has released a white paper, “Natural Gas: Reliable and Resilient”  highlighting the operational measures, physical characteristics and cont..

Contractor Hits Gas Line, Causes Leak in Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Thousands of people were evacuated from surrounding buildings and streets were closed in Cambridge as authorities responded to reports of a natural gas leak. The Cambridge Fire Department tweeted at 11 a.m. Friday that all buildings could be reoccupied. A spokesma..

Mountain Valley Pipeline Lawsuit Filed

ROANOKE, Va. (AP)  — A newly filed lawsuit is seeking to stop federal regulators from granting the developers of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline the power of eminent domain. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Roanoke, Virginia, on behalf of property owners in the pipeline’s pa..

Utility Proposes Five-Year Program to Continue Natural Gas Infrastructure Upgrades

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, today unveiled a proposal for the second phase of its natural gas infrastructure modernization program. If approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the program will allow PSE&G to continue to accelerate..

Report: Violations Occurred During Mariner East 2 Construction

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released details of oversight activities for the Mariner East 2 Pipeline Project, which includes construction violations. Presently, four Notices of Violation have been issued for the project. In addition, one Consent Order and Agree..

Dakota Access Developer’s New Pipeline Rankling Regulators

NEW WASHINGTON, Ohio (AP) — The company that developed the Dakota Access oil pipeline is entangled in another fight, this time in Ohio where work on its multi-state natural gas pipeline has wrecked wetlands, flooded farm fields and flattened a 170-year-old farmhouse. The federal commission that ove..

Regulators Release Environmental Assessment of Pipeline

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Atlantic Coast Pipeline intended to carry natural gas across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina would have some adverse environmental effects, including impacts on water resources, forest and other habitats, but most could be reduced to insignificant levels, an asses..

Months Needed for Extra Study of Dakota Access Pipeline

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers says additional environmental review of the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline is likely to take the rest of the year. The federal agency, Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners and energy trade groups also are advocating for keepi..

12 New Mechanics Join PECO's NatGas Workforce

PECO yesterday welcomed 12 new apprentice mechanics to the company’s field force as they celebrated their graduation from a comprehensive natural gas training program. The new apprentices, along with 12 mechanics who graduated in April 2017, will join the utility’s front lines – helping to ensure sa..

New Jersey Governor Again Blocks Attempt to Rejoin Environmental Pact

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday again blocked Democratic lawmakers’ attempt to have the state rejoin a regional environmental pact. Christie vetoed a measure approved in the Legislature that would require the state to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, sa..

Regulators Probe Whether Gas Pipeline Buried Deep Enough

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont regulators are investigating whether Vermont Gas Systems failed to bury its new gas pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury deep enough in New Haven. The Vermont Public Utility Commission said Friday that Vermont Gas notified the panel last month that it buried the pip..

Virginia Supreme Court Sides with Pipeline in Survey Lawsuit

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the company developing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in a lawsuit against a woman who sought to keep surveyors off her property. Hazel Palmer owns land in Virginia’s Augusta County along the route of the proposed natural gas pipeli..

Excavator Hits Gas Line, Causes Leak

WARREN, R.I. (AP) — Officials say about 50 people had to be evacuated after a worker hit a main gas line in Rhode Island. Warren Fire Chief Alexander Galinelli says natural gas poured into the air for about two hours after an excavator hit the gas main in Warren Monday. Firefighters went door to d..

PECO Celebrates National Lineworker Appreciation Day

In celebration of National Lineworker Appreciation Day, PECO is honoring more than 1,094 utility workers who operate and maintain electric and natural gas systems and facilities and respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week, often in challenging conditions, and on weekends and holiday..