Approved

Gas Natural Inc. shareholders have approved the company’s merger with a subsidiary of energy-focused private equity firm First Reserve, clearing the way for regulatory approval and keeping the deal on track to close in the second half of 2017.

FERC needs to approve the Rover Pipeline Project this week in order to avoid delays, project backers told the Commission in a filing earlier this month.

FERC has approved construction of Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. LLC’s (Transco) Virginia Southside Expansion Project II, which would serve the needs of Dominion Virginia Power to fuel a new 1,580 MW power plant it plans to build in Greensville County, VA.

FERC approved two separate uncontested settlements Thursday, bringing an apparent end to investigations into whether a pair of interstate natural gas pipelines set unreasonable rates to recoup costs.

Washington state regulators approved a $17.8 million, or 8.7%, decrease in retail natural gas utility rates for Cascade Natural Gas Corp. The decrease is the net effect of two decisions by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) — one related to Cascade’s annual purchased gas adjustment (PGA) to reflect changes in the wholesale costs of its gas supply purchases, and the other approved an all-party settlement in the gas utility’s last general rate case. In July UTC approved the all-party settlement, resulting in a $4 million, or 1.6%, general rate hike, but the PGA more than offset that resulting in an overall rate reduction.

Mexico’s Energy Secretary on Tuesday approved the bidding process for a dozen onshore exploration and production areas open to international investment. The acreage contains mostly natural gas and includes nine blocks in the Burgos Basin south of the Texas border.

After more than five years in the making, months of fiery debate and weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations, the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Wednesday approved new environmental regulations for shale gas production and voted for legislation to scrap new rules for legacy producers.

In an encouraging sign for the future of shale gas development in the United Kingdom (UK), a county government in northern England has awarded a planning application to perform hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations to an energy company with ties to Barclays plc.

The city council in Greeley, CO, located in oil and natural gas-rich Weld County, on Tuesday overturned its planning commission and approved a 22-well development by a 5-2 vote.