Approval

Cheniere Energy Partners LP unit Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC has received approval from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to liquefy and export U.S. natural gas from the Sabine Pass LNG terminal to any country that has or develops import capacity.

With regulatory and legislative encouragement, Atlanta Gas Light Inc. (AGL) has filed a plan with Georgia state regulators asking for approval to establish over the next five years a network of public and home-based compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations. AGL envisions a network throughout the greater Atlanta area and along major transportation corridors in the state.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) siting committee provisionally recommended approval of plans by a unit of NRG Energy Inc.to build a 558 MW combined-cycle gas-fired power plant on 23 acres of NRG’s existing 100-acre Encina generation plant site in Carlsbad, CA. The committee is seeking input on determining if the current repowering plans provide “extraordinary public benefit” under the criteria established by the South Carlsbad Coastal Redevelopment Project Area Plan. That enhanced benefit might come from NRG’s plans for removal of the existing 900 MW gas-fired plant. If licensed by the CEC, construction of the plant is expected to take about 25 months. NRG has said construction could begin by the end of the third quarter. Existing gas-fired Units 1, 2 and 3 at the larger site would be retired.

New Jersey wants the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to ultimately oversee the approval process for natural gas well sites in the river basin, and is calling for a strict limit to the initial number of production wells to be drilled once it adopts regulations on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) received approval from California regulators Thursday to increase its rates annually over the next four years to support its natural gas transmission pipeline and storage system, which has been placed under a microscope since a pipeline rupture and explosion in San Bruno last year. Rate changes are effective May 1.

With Friday’s deadline approaching to comment on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) draft water quality amendments, the industry-led Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) on Tuesday outlined its concerns and said the proposed rules exceed the multi-state commission’s legal authority and duplicate state jurisdiction.

Responding to concerns expressed by citizens, the government of Nova Scotia has begun a year-long review of environmental issues associated with hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

A coalition of conservation and environmental groups wants Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to rescind a new policy requiring Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) inspectors to get approval before issuing notices of violation to Marcellus Shale operators. In a recent letter, 42 groups, including Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Audubon Pennsylvania and the Sierra Club, said the policy “will create unacceptable delays in resolving identified problems putting public safety and natural resources unnecessarily at risk.” The policy, described by the DEP as a three-month pilot project, requires inspectors to get all notices of violations pre-approved by DEP Secretary Michael Krancer. The DEP said the measure is a way to guarantee consistency across the state, but critics say it undermines the authority of inspectors (see Shale Daily, April 1).

Canadian industry interest in arctic drilling is warming up in the regulatory thaw signaled by the National Energy Board (NEB) with its December approval of the Mackenzie Gas Project (see related story), but the rigs will remain frozen out of offshore prospects until further notice.