Authorization

WBI Energy Transmission Inc. is seeking FERC authorization to expand the northern portion of its natural gas pipeline system to meet increased demand in western North Dakota.

Sempra Energy subsidiary Sempra U.S. Gas & Power LLC has received authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to place a second underground natural gas storage cavern into service at its Mississippi Hub Storage facility located in Simpson County, MS.

In response to the booming development in the Bakken Shale play, Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC (KMIGT) is seeking FERC authorization to transfer a portion of its Pony Express natural gas pipeline to an affiliate to transport crude from the Bakken to key refinery centers.

Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) has filed an application at FERC seeking authorization to build an expansion of its existing High Plains System to provide additional takeaway capacity from the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin to the Cheyenne Hub in Weld County, CO.

Although the full House hasn’t acted on its pipeline safety re-authorization legislation yet, a leading Department of Transportation (DOT) official said she is confident that the bill will clear Congress this year.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp.’s two utility subsidiaries have filed with Wyoming regulators for authorization to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Cheyenne that would include both a peaking and combined-cycle baseload unit. Black Hills Power and Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power asked the Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) for permission to build the $237 million complex to provide 37 MW of simple-cycle peaking capacity and a separate 95 MW of combined-cycle capacity. Cheyenne Light would own and operate the peaking unit, and the two utilities would jointly own and operate the baseload facility with Black Hills Power owning the majority (55 MW).

A major interstate natural gas pipeline association is pressing Tea Party conservative Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to lift his procedural hold on pipeline safety re-authorization legislation so the bill can come to the Senate floor for a vote.

Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) has asked FERC to reconsider a recent order that removed restrictions so that customers of a new mainline displacement-only backhaul service may use secondary points to make forward-hauls.

Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC has filed an application seeking authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand its system by 225,000 Dth/d in New York.