Citizens

Investor-owned utilities (IOU) in the Pacific Northwest, three state regulatory commissions and Oregon’s citizens utility board all have signed a final agreement on the handling of a long-time policy issues involving Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) residential exchange program allowing IOU customers to share in the low-cost federal hydroelectric supplies for which public-sector utilities have first call.

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).

After months of extolling the potential of the Utica Shale to bring jobs and revenue to Quebec, provincial officials on Friday changed course, warning that natural gas development may not be allowed to proceed.

After months of extolling the potential of the Utica Shale to bring jobs and revenue to Quebec, provincial officials on Friday changed course, warning that natural gas development may not be allowed to proceed.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and 40 other state organizations have sent a letter to Gov.-elect Tom Corbett asking him to maintain the moratorium signed last year by Gov. Ed Rendell that prevents new leases for deep natural gas drilling in the state’s forests.

A citizens group is calling on Murrysville, PA, to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the borough, located about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County.

Pennsylvania lawmakers need to be held to their promise to pass “a substantial severance tax” on Marcellus Shale natural gas production, according to Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), which is planning a series of rallies across the state in support of a tax.

A new report by Washington, DC-based Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) contends that the major oil and natural gas companies and top executives use the tax breaks from the federal government to line their pockets.

Maryland could reap economic and environmental benefits from helping its citizens improve home heating efficiency while reducing their consumption of natural gas, a University of Maryland study commissioned by the state’s Department of the Environment has found.