Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review (NSR) routine maintenance rule, which was issued last month, may remove some of the emission requirement burdens from utilities, but it could play havoc with natural gas markets and send prices “much lower than currently expected,” according to a new study by Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc. (SEER).

The Environmental Protection Agency’s New Source Review (NSR) routine maintenance rule, which was issued last month, may remove some of the emission requirement burdens from utilities, but it could play havoc with natural gas markets and send prices “much lower than currently expected,” according to a new study by Strategic Energy and Economic Research Inc. (SEER).

Dominion has reached a $1.2 billion agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and five states under which the electric utility will install state-of-the-art emissions control equipment on its largest coal-fired generating units in Virginia and West Virginia.

A group of U.S. senators last week urged FERC Chairman Pat Wood to drop his agency’s plans to implement its sweeping standard market design (SMD) for U.S. wholesale power market, advice that Wood declined to take, Sen. Peter Domenici (R-NM) told a gathering of reporters on Wednesday.

A FERC judge on Tuesday will hear arguments on whether to toss out an agency subpoena that orders El Paso Corp. to furnish documents on its deceptive price reporting activities to California parties to support their claim for refunds.

FERC Commissioner Nora Brownell last Thursday said if her agency uncovers instances where a power company engages in retribution against another company that has taken a beef over interconnection, for example, FERC will offer a “swift response” to such retaliation.

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has updated the agency’s guidelines for reporting the results of investigations of cultural resources (i.e. historic properties), which are carried out for new pipeline projects. For details about the guideline changes, go to the Commission’s home page at http://www.ferc.fed.us.

FERC Chairman Pat Wood on Wednesday told federal lawmakers his agency hopes to be able to hand over to Congress in the next two weeks an interim report on the status of its five-month investigation into allegations that suppliers manipulated natural gas and electricity prices in California and other western energy markets.

FERC Chairman Pat Wood on Wednesday told federal lawmakers his agency hopes to be able to hand over to Congress in the next two weeks an interim report on the status of its five-month investigation into allegations that suppliers manipulated natural gas and electricity prices in California and other western energy markets.