Blasts

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a proposed rule that seeks to identify and define the areas where people and property would be at greatest risk to “considerable” injury and damage if a natural gas pipeline should rupture and explode.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a proposed rule that seeks to identify and define the areas where people and property would be at greatest risk to “considerable” injury and damage if a natural gas pipeline should rupture and explode.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) last week announced it was seeking a fine of $2.52 million against El Paso Natural Gas for several “probable violations” that potentially contributed to the fatal explosion on its pipeline system in New Mexico last August, which resulted in 12 deaths. It was said to be the “largest civil penalty” ever sought against a pipeline operator for federal safety violations.

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham took the not-so-original position of blaming pollsters and the media last Wednesday for unfairly criticizing the administration’s energy plan. He said they’re simply using the wrong measuring stick by singling out issues that are obviously disliked the most, such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), while many of the other important issues are never even mentioned, let alone subjected to public opinion polls.

Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham took the not-so-original position of blaming pollsters and the media Wednesday for unfairly criticizing the administration’s energy plan. He said they’re simply using the wrong measuring stick by singling out issues that are obviously disliked the most, such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while many of the other important issues are never even mentioned, let alone subjected to public opinion polls.

As state legislators frantically try to come up with a legislative alternative to the governor’s deal with Southern California Edison Co., the consumer watchdog part of the California Public Utilities Commission last week blasted a more recent agreement, or memorandum of understanding (MOU), crafted with Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) yesterday announced it is seeking a fine of $2.52 million against El Paso Natural Gas for several “probable violations” that potentially contributed to the fatal explosion on its pipeline system in New Mexico last August. Although the agency called it the “largest civil penalty” ever sought against a pipeline operator for safety violations, it seemed rather conservative in light of the death toll of 12.

Acknowledging that the state’s cost for spot wholesale power supplies has increased significantly since the PG&E utility bankruptcy filing, the newest member of the California Public Utilities Commission lashed out at merchant generators and power suppliers last week for “manipulating” the western wholesale electricity market and extracting billions of dollars out of the states’ economies. If the situation does not ease soon, Gov. Gray Davis is likely to seize some of the private sector power plants, according to Geoffery Brown, a former San Francisco public defender named to the CPUC by Davis earlier this year.

Acknowledging that the state’s cost for spot wholesale power supplies has increased significantly since the PG&E utility bankruptcy filing, the newest member of the California Public Utilities Commission Wednesday lashed out at merchant generators and power suppliers for “manipulating” the western wholesale electricity market and extracting billions of dollars out of the states’ economies. If the situation does not ease soon, Gov. Gray Davis is likely to seize some of the private sector power plants, according to Geoffery Brown, a former San Francisco public defender named to the CPUC by Davis earlier this year.