Chair

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed Richard L. Kauffman as “energy czar” and said he would chair a newly created cabinet position for the Energy Policy and Finance Subcommittee. In a state of the state address, Cuomo said his “ambitious agenda” includes “investments in energy infrastructure, solar power and an electric vehicle network. Kauffman would be tasked with, among other things, creating the state’s first “green bank” within the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The bank would offer loans and grants to further “clean” energy deployment, coordinate and leverage the state’s energy spending and alleviate financial market barriers “that currently impede the flow of private capital to renewable energy projects.” Kauffman is a senior adviser to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. He serves on the boards of the Brookings Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Jim Hackett, who traded the CEO chair for that of executive chairman in May, said the country needs to have an “informed and constructive debate” on the national energy policy to ensure natural gas and oil can continue to be developed under “very strong and appropriate” environmental protections.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s Jim Hackett, who traded the CEO chair for that of executive chairman in May, said Wednesday the country needs to have an “informed and constructive debate” on the national energy policy to ensure natural gas and oil can continue to be developed under “very strong and appropriate” environmental protections.

The number of “felt” manmade earthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil and natural gas operations is negligible, the chair of a major report on seismicity activity told a Senate panel last week. However water disposal associated with fracking shale gas wells is linked to increased tremor activity, countered an official with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The number of “felt” manmade earthquakes induced by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil and natural gas operations is negligible, the chair of a major report on seismicity activity told a Senate panel Tuesday. However the disposal of the water associated with fracking of shale gas wells is linked to increased quake activity, an official with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and federal Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey will help Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead co-chair a sage grouse task force, Mead announced Friday. The task force will review ways states can provide sage grouse management tools and habitat protections. As means of potentially avoiding the need to list sage grouse under the federal Endangered Species Act, the task force was created in December following a meeting in Wyoming among U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and officials from 10 states that have habitat for the greater sage grouse, a large, ground-dwelling bird that lives at elevations of 4,000 to 9,000 feet (see Daily GPI, Jan. 11). In 2009 Wyoming instituted a “Sage-Ground Core Area Protection” program. Mead has continued the push for state-led actions.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair John Wellinghoff and a California regulator examined the Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) emergency response center in downtown Los Angeles during a national regulators’ meeting, and they found a potential national model, according to Michel Florio, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

The Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission (MSAC) released its final report on Friday and now Pennsylvania policymakers in the executive and legislative branches must decide which recommendations to keep, which to change and which to toss.

Energy industry attorney Joshua Epel has been nominated as chair of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) after being selected by Gov. John Hickenlooper earlier in April to replace Ronald Binz, whose term expired earlier in the year. The nomination is awaiting confirmation by the Colorado legislature, whose current session ends in mid-May. Epel is currently the assistant general counsel at DCP Midstream LLC, a Denver-based gatherer/processor of natural gas and a 50-50 venture between Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips. Epel is also the chairman of the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, a position he will leave if he is confirmed to head the PUC. Hickenlooper said Epel brings a “broad range of experience in energy and environmental policy.” If confirmed, Epel will replace Binz, who was appointed in January 2007 and served past the expiration of this four-year tern, resigning April 8.