Clean

California’s headlong rush toward an eventual renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal of 33% of the state’s power coming from environmentally clean resources by 2020 could greatly expand the market from natural gas-fired power generation, according to Steve Hoffmann, senior vice president with NRG Energy Inc. Diversifying electric generation fuels may expand, not lessen, the influence of gas in the next five to 10 years, he said from his perspective running NRG’s western operations.

The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 20 that government motor vehicle fleets need to be powered by clean energy sources, such as natural gas and alternative fuels. The rules apply to fleets of 15 vehicles or more, the appellate court said.

The bears made it a clean sweep for the week on Friday as July natural gas futures dropped an additional 21.8 cents to finish at $7.130. The cumulative result of the five consecutive lower closes was a 78.8-cent drop from the previous Friday.

The Senate Finance Committee Tuesday overwhelmingly passed an energy tax package that provides $28.5 billion in tax incentives for clean and alternative fuels, of which domestic oil and natural gas producers would pay more than $20 billion of the tab.

Senators Tuesday night defeated 56-37 a floor amendment to the Clean Energy Act (HR 6) that would have given states veto power over liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals sited within their borders or within 15 miles of their borders.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week issued a final permit to MoBay Storage Hub LLC authorizing construction of its 50 Bcf MoBay gas storage facility under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a final permit to MoBay Storage Hub LLC authorizing construction of its 50 Bcf MoBay gas storage facility under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.

Prices that were flat to about 15 cents higher at several western points averted a clean sweep of cash market softness Monday. Overall, traders responded to prospects for spring-like weather with little heating load in most areas this week, along with Friday’s futures dip of 15.6 cents, by pushing prices anywhere from a couple of pennies to about 45 cents lower at a solid majority of points. Many of the largest losses were concentrated at Midwest and Northeast citygates.

If politicians expect clean-burning natural gas to relieve their coal-fired power generation emissions woes, they need to give gas producers greater access to lands on which they can drill, the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) said last week.