Alternative

With the increasing attractiveness of natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel, MDU Resources’ Boise, ID-based Intermountain Gas Corp. has asked state regulators to clarify their jurisdiction regarding the sale of gas supplies to third-party nonutility resellers of the fuel. Various suppliers of gas for transportation have approached Intermountain of late.

While not wavering in their long-term support for more alternative energy, major California utilities including Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) envision plenty of real-world challenges to the state’s increased renewable energy goal of 33%. Reaching that goal by 2020 holds major implications for the state’s transmission grid and existing fleet of natural gas-fired generation plants, according to Edison International CEO Ted Craver, who spoke earlier in November on a third quarter earnings conference call (Nov. 6).

While corporate America is objecting to the costs of a new regulatory regime and central clearing for financial commodities products, the alternative is unacceptable. In the current financial crisis “all the American people are paying the price for it, not just those who instigated the problem,” a derivatives market expert told a House committee hearing Thursday.

While corporate America is objecting to the costs of a new regulatory regime and central clearing for financial commodities products, the alternative is unacceptable. In the current financial crisis “all the American people are paying the price for it, not just those who instigated the problem,” a derivatives market expert told a House committee hearing Thursday.

Two House panels last Thursday voted out their portions of the economic stimulus spending package promoting increased production of alternative fuels and encouraging more energy efficiency and conservation. The votes, mostly along party lines, set the stage for what could be a partisan fight on the House floor this week.

Energy price declines eventually will dampen the economics for various alternative energy projects, leaving the administration of President-elect Obama to rediscover natural gas as the “fuel of choice.” This was one of the insights Wednesday from a panel discussing “economical sources of supply” on the second day of the LDC Forum Rockies & West Conference in Irvine, CA.

Ramping up the photo-ops on oilman T. Boone Pickens’ alternative energy crusade, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson Monday became the first of his colleagues nationally to sign a pledge to join Pickens’ campaign to “break America’s addiction to foreign oil.”

The Pacific Northwest needs a new infusion of natural gas supplies longer term, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, according to a variety of industry speakers at the Fifth Annual Northwest Energy Conference held last Wednesday in Portland and sponsored by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA).

Leaving telltale signs that may be traced to renewable natural gas (RNG) from animal waste, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and its alternative energy partner BioEnergy Solutions struck paydirt last week in a biogas-to-pipeline injection project in the agricultural fields of Fresno County in California. It is the first project in the state to deliver pipeline-quality RNG to a utility, according to PG&E.