2011

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has reappointed Philip Jones to a second six-year term on the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). The appointment requires state Senate confirmation, and would run through Jan. 1, 2017. Gregoire originally named Jones, 57, to the UTC in 2005. Jones is active in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), serving on the board of directors and the NARUC executive committee as second vice president, along with the international relations and telecommunications committees. Jones also is active on the NARUC Washington (DC) Action Committee and board chair for the National Regulatory Research Institute. Jones was a former senior executive with Cutter & Buck (Europe) BV in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for five years and prior to that was a senior legislative aide to former U.S. Sen. Daniel Evans (R-WA). Jones is a 1977 graduate of Harvard, with honors.

Shale player Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. grew its total proved reserves by 116% last year, and the value of reserves grew 171% from the year-ago period, the Houston-based company said Tuesday. And there will be more growth like that this year if the company’s CEO is correct.

Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett last week selected three experienced state officials to oversee the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and named another as the state’s first Energy Executive — news that was applauded by industry and environmental groups.

The proposed merger of Northeast Utilities and NSTAR, which would create one of the country’s largest utilities serving 500,000 natural gas customers as well as three million electric customers, would harm competitive energy markets in New England, according to the New England Power Generators Association (NEPGA).

The deadly blowout of BP plc’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico last April was due to “several individual missteps and oversights by BP, Halliburton and Transocean,” and to a “systemwide problem” with industry practices and government policies, said the National Oil Spill Commission last Wednesday in an advance chapter of its final report.

As a prelude to newly scheduled fact-finding hearings, federal pipeline investigators last Monday issued urgent recommendations regarding record-keeping problems it has encountered with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in the wake of the San Francisco-based utility’s fatal natural gas transmission pipeline rupture in San Bruno, CA, last September.

MarkWest Energy Partners LP and MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources LLC announced an acquisition and an infrastructure development deal to serve EQT Corp. and other producers in Appalachia.

After spending big in the nation’s gas shale patch — and taking some heat for it — Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey K. McClendon said Thursday it is time for the company to reap what it has sown in announcing the Oklahoma City-based producer’s plans for this year and next.

As a prelude to newly scheduled fact-finding hearings, federal pipeline investigators Monday issued urgent recommendations regarding record-keeping problems it has encountered with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in the wake of the San Francisco-based utility’s fatal natural gas transmission pipeline rupture in San Bruno, CA, last September.