Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a bill (SB 967) that repealed a controversial law (SB 408) passed six years ago requiring annual state regulatory adjustments to align retail utility rates with the actual amounts of taxes paid by the state’s four major investor-owned utilities. NW Natural, the gas-only utility distribution company based in Portland, said it has had a surcharge in place every year that the tax true-up law has been in existence. As a result of the new law being effective immediately, NW Natural said it will be denied recovery of its surcharge for the 2010 tax year. The gas utility said it is now required to record a one-time pre-tax charge to earnings in the second quarter this year of approximately $7.4 million ($4.4 million, or 17 cents/share, after tax) related to amounts earned from the surcharge last year. The original law grew out of a concern that utilities were collecting more in taxes as part of customer rates than they were paying out to governments (see Daily GPI, April 15, 2008).
Annual
Articles from Annual
Gas Drilling Threatens Susquehanna River, Says Report
American Rivers, which publishes an annual list of the “most endangered rivers” in the country, said Tuesday the dangers to water resources from natural gas drilling have lifted the Susquehanna River to the top of its 2011 compilation.
Enbridge Expanding East Texas System for Haynesville Production
Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP) plans to invest $175 million to expand its East Texas system to provide gathering, treating and transmission services for several major gas producers on the Texas side of the Haynesville Shale, the Houston-based partnership said Thursday.
BP CEO: GOM Deepwater Exploration Still in Sight
BP plc’s executive team appeared to be steeled and ready to answer an onslaught of aggrieved shareholders Thursday at the first annual general meeting since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) claimed the lives of 11 men and shattered the company’s reputation.
Dukes Up, BP’s Executive Team Stares Down Protesters
BP plc’s executive team appeared to be steeled and ready to answer an onslaught of aggrieved shareholders Thursday at the first annual general meeting since the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) claimed the lives of 11 men and destroyed the company’s reputation.
Industry Brief
The nation’s largest municipal utility, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), said it will slash up to $440 million from its annual budgets during the next three years. With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa making the disclosure, LADWP said it now will make deep budget cuts, complete with a hiring freeze, despite facing increased regulatory mandates in the climate change area, aging infrastructure in its $4 billion municipal system and major long-term investment needs. Villaraigosa said the LADWP and its new General Manager Ron Nichols have been “hard at work” to help sustain what the mayor called “fiscal sustainability” at the city-run utility. A “vigorous assessment” of potential savings opportunities focused on areas at LADWP that could be cut “without jeopardizing quality of service,” Villaraigosa said. LADWP is canceling noncritical facility upgrades and office remodeling, and various management perks are being cut, LADWP said. “Our customers are being forced to tighten their belts in this economy, and we need to be more frugal, too,” Nichols said.
Williams CEO: Shale Creating Petrochemical ‘Renaissance’
Shale formations are poised to create a renaissance in the U.S. petrochemical industry, Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said Wednesday.
Oil and Gas Execs Fretting Over Prices, Regulation
The top two concerns for oil and gas company executives in 2011 are uncertainty in natural gas and crude oil prices, respectively, according to an annual report by Grant Thornton LLP.
Prices, Regulation Vex Oil and Gas Execs
The top two concerns for oil and gas company executives in 2011 are uncertainty in natural gas and crude oil prices, respectively, according to an annual report by Grant Thornton LLP.
Rex to Expand Marcellus Shale Drilling in 2011
Rex Energy is reporting a 104% annual increase in natural gas production for 2010, primarily on increased gas sales from its Sarsen Plant in Butler County, PA. The State College, PA-based company produced 8,462 Mcf/d of natural gas and 70 b/d of natural gas liquids in 2010 from its properties in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, as well as from the Illinois basin, and the Niobrara Shale in Wyoming and Colorado.
