Gas

Texas Electricity Supply Chain Map receives critical infrastructure updates to improve emergency response

The map has has more than 21,000 miles of gas transmission pipelines and approximately 60,000 miles of electric transmission lines.

Biden administration targets US oil and gas industry with new rule on methane emissions

The Biden administration on Saturday issued a final rule aimed at reducing methane emissions, targeting the U.S. oil and natural gas industry for its role in global warming as President Joe Biden seeks to advance his climate legacy.

NPCC launches gas infrastructure study to evaluate distribution systems, pipeline constraints

The Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) announced the launch of a northeastern regional gas infrastructure study to evaluate fuel supply to the region’s electric generation.

MDU Resources to expand electric, natural gas utilities, pipeline businesses with $2.8 billion investment

MDU Resources intends to become a pure-play regulated energy delivery business consisting of electric and natural gas utilities and a natural gas pipeline business.

NV5 Global to support New Jersey utility projects with $17 million contracts

NV5 will deliver engineering services for a variety of critical areas, including metering and regulation (M&R) station upgrades, gas transmission main replacements involving trenchless technologies, gas facility structural support solutions, and feasibility route studies.

Georgia’s largest utility asks regulators to secure more power generation with natural gas

Georgia Power said it wants to build or contract for at least 3,365 more megawatts of generating capacity. That would be enough to power about 1.4 million homes.

Indiana utility requests rate raise to fund natural gas infrastructure modernizations

The request is largely driven by federal safety and compliance regulations, system upgrades to support economic development and job creation, and infrastructure modernization and improvements that directly benefit customers and communities.

Navigator cancels proposed Midwestern CO2 pipeline, citing ‘unpredictable’ regulatory processes

A company on Friday said it would cancel its plans for a 1,300-mile (2,092-km) pipeline across five Midwestern states that would have gathered carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants and buried the gas deep underground.

Xcel Energy receives $100 million federal grant to mitigate wildfires, boost grid resiliency

The projects will take a number of steps to boost grid resiliency, including moving high-risk distribution circuits underground.

Biden administration wants to count downstream GHG emissions when FERC considers pipeline, power projects

(UI) — The President Biden administration announced its latest effort to throw a wrench in pipeline construction. The Biden Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) wants to rollback Trump administration pro-pipeline changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Excavation workers hit gas line in La Pine, Ore., subdivision

(UI) — In La Pine, Oregon, an excavation crew working in a newly developed subdivision had an incident where they accidentally hit a two-inch natural gas line. This led to a gas leak that raised concerns among nearby residents, resulting in advisories to shelter in place and avoid outdoor open flames until the repairs were completed.

Biden awards $7 billion for clean hydrogen hubs across the country

The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel.

Interstate natural gas pipeline explosion in Idaho prompts evacuations

The explosion happened when a worker using an excavator ruptured a 22-inch (56-centimeter) natural gas pipeline near the town of about 10,600 people, said Chief Deputy Douglas Hart of the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office.

Pennsylvania candy company contests OSHA citations following March 2023 natural gas explosion that killed seven

According to R.M. Palmer Co., an NTSB investigation found that natural gas was leaking from a DuPont service tee under a public road less than 2 feet from underground piping that ran between the company’s headquarters and the building that ultimately exploded.

Chesapeake Utilities expands natural gas business with $923 million Florida City Gas acquisition

With the addition of FCG, Chesapeake Utilities' overall natural gas distribution presence in Florida will include an approved regulated rate base of $941 million, serving more than 211,000 customers through nearly 7,000 miles of natural gas distribution company pipeline.

Sewer gas leak hospitalizes four DC high school students

(UI) — Four high school students from McKinley Tech High School in Washington, D.C., have been hospitalized due to hydrogen sulfide, commonly known as sewer gas.

NV5 awarded $16 million to upgrade NYC sewer, electrical, gas infrastructure

NV5 Global, Inc. has been awarded a $16 million extension to an existing resident engineering inspection services contract by the New York City Department of Design and Construction.

Federal regulators propose rule changes after 2018 gas distribution pipeline blasts in Massachusetts

These proposed changes are designed to improve safety and ease risk through the improvement of emergency response plans, integrity management plans, operation manuals and other steps, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Duke Energy methane emissions monitoring platform to receive federal funding

The company's current methane-monitoring platform – which has reduced recordable leaks by more than 85% since the beginning of 2022 – uses satellites, sensors and other cutting-edge technologies to detect leaks and measure real-time methane emissions on underground natural gas distribution systems.

Underground gas leak unlikely cause of fatal Pennsylvania house blast

It is unlikely that natural gas seeped from an abandoned underground mine and caused a house explosion in western Pennsylvania last weekend that killed six people, state officials said Friday.

Duke’s Root Control and UIS join forces to enhance underground service offerings

(UI) — Duke’s Root Control Inc. acquires Underground Infrastructure Services (UIS) of Livonia, Mich., significantly expanding its wastewater and gas inspection and remediation services, including inspection and replacement for water, gas, cable, and electrical utilities.

AGA Chair sees future shaped by education, innovation

(UI) — Sitherwood, who plans to retire from Spire this December, sat down with Underground Infrastructure to discuss her career, her outlook for the natural gas industry and her work as the 2023 chair of the American Gas Association (AGA).

New permitting provisions in budget bill slight natural gas industry

(UI) — The natural gas industry greeted the permitting reform bill Congress passed, and President Biden signed last month with something short of enthusiasm. The permitting provisions in the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 had only glancing benefits for gas pipelines and were chiefly written to benefit wind, solar and electric energy deployment.

Officials approve $990,000 settlement with utility for 2019 gas main explosion

Canonsburg-based Columbia Gas took responsibility for the July 2019 blast in North Franklin Township, saying it had failed to install a key piece of equipment in the home while workers nearby upgraded a gas main.

TC Energy gas transmission pipeline explodes in rural Virginia

TC Energy said it was notified of a fire after there was a pressure drop in its Columbia Gas Transmission Pipeline along Interstate 81 around 8:40 a.m., the company said in a statement. That section of the pipeline near Strasburg was isolated as a precaution, TC Energy said.

BOND Civil & Utility announces new division BOND Trenchless

(UI) — BOND Civil & Utility, a wholly owned subsidiary of BOND Brothers Inc., has announced the creation of a newly formed division, BOND Trenchless. This new unit will allow BOND to expand its offerings with additional self-perform capabilities, providing a more vertically integrated value proposition to clients, such as investor-owned utilities (IOUs), gas transmission companies, power, and energy developers.

ConocoPhillips facing $914,000 fine over Alaskan underground gas blowout

ConocoPhillips Alaska faces a potential $914,000 fine over what a state regulatory agency called a “shallow underground blowout” of a well that released natural gas at the company’s Alpine field on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope last year.

Enbridge to acquire underground natural gas storage for $295 million

Aitken Creek Storage is an underground reservoir located 75 miles (120 kilometers) northeast of Fort St. John, B.C., and is the largest and only underground natural gas storage facility in B.C., totaling 77 billion cubic feet of working gas capacity.

EPA won’t challenge largest federal utility on new gas plant

The gas plant decision by the Tennessee Valley Authority came Jan. 10, capping a months-long conflict between the TVA and the Environmental Protection Agency — two federal agencies that are both charged with a mission to protect the environment.

Power failures amplify calls for utility to rethink gas

A federal utility's decision to resort to rolling blackouts after coal and natural gas units went offline during dangerously cold conditions has intensified questions about the Tennessee Valley Authority's recent decision to double down on fossil fuels.