The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is revising the deadline by which owners or operators of facilities subject to the petroleum and natural gas systems source category of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule must submit requests for use of best available monitoring methods (BAMM) to the agency. Specifically, the agency is moving up the prior deadline of Sept. 30 to June 30, according to a final rule published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. The amendment now reads: “For reporting years after 2012, a new request to use best available monitoring methods must be submitted by June 30 of the year prior to the reporting year for which use of [BAMM] is sought.” The EPA said it is not proposing any other changes related to BAMM for oil and gas. Affected facilities would be natural gas pipelines, local distribution companies, oil and gas drilling facilities and natural gas liquids extraction facilities.

Wisconsin Energy Corp. said a colder-than-normal winter boosted its utility’s retail natural gas sales by 71% in 1Q2013, compared to the same period in 2012. While CEO Gale Klappa reported increased quarter-over-quarter earnings of $176.6 million (76 cents/share) in 1Q2013, compared to $172.1 (74 cents/share) in the same period last year, he said sales to the utility’s largest commercial and industrial (CI) customers, including a mine in Upper Michigan, were down by 3.9% in the first quarter due to a combination of factors. Cutbacks at the mine, comparing sales to a Leap Year like 2012, and a national economy that is “treading water” all helped drive down CI sales, said Klappa, although he added that the company found growth in several industrial sectors, including printing and publishing, and plastics. “Overall, sales to our largest customers were in line with our expectations [for 1Q2013],” he said.

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