Commission

Despite the shutdown of the federal government, all of the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports should be released on schedule this week and next, the agency said Tuesday. FERC also was conducting business as usual Tuesday for an unspecified time until its reserve funds run out. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had only key personnel continuing to work.

In the event of a potential government shutdown beginning at 12:00 a.m. (EST) on Oct. 1, FERC said the majority of its approximately 1,500 employees would be furloughed, while it would continue to inspect liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, monitor energy markets for manipulation or other violations of Commission rules and potential threats to energy infrastructure.

A FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) has approved an uncontested settlement between Viking Gas Transmission and its shippers resolving charges that the company over-recovered costs, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates for shippers

A FERC quarterly update of various regional efforts to coordinate natural gas and electric markets shows that the New England and Northeast generation markets will continue to be the most gas-dependent during the upcoming heating season.

Environmentalists and other activists are marshaling their troops to continue their battle against the recently authorized global exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Cove Point LNG Terminal on the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, MD.

Following an upswing in the percentage of associated gas being flared in the most recent monthly oil/natural statistics, albeit due to gas processing and electric grid breakdowns, North Dakota state officials are stepping up their efforts to speed up the reduction of flaring, which again hangs at 30%. The state wants new programs or rules in place early next year.

The governor and air quality regulators in Colorado are seeking broad-based input and support for a new set of air emissions rules applied to oil and natural gas drilling as evidenced by Gov. John Hickenlooper’s move on Monday to assure a smooth regulatory process.

The now-closed 2,200 MW, 438-acre San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) could be totally shuttered and, decommissioned in 10 years, an official with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) told a California state Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee hearing in Sacramento Tuesday.

FERC Monday ordered BP America Inc. and affiliates to show cause in a long-running case [IN13-15] involving the alleged gaming of the physical and financial markets at the Houston Ship Channel (HSC). The Commission proposed a near-$29 million penalty for transactions taking place from mid-September 2008 through Nov. 30, 2008.