Commission

Recently elected Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian took his oath of office Monday. “It is a tremendous honor and responsibility to serve the state of Texas in this capacity,” he said. “I look forward to ensuring the Texas Railroad Commission continues its 125-year legacy of encouraging responsible energy production and creating jobs.” He joins Chairman Christi Craddick and Commissioner Ryan Sitton as the third member of the Railroad Commission of Texas.

FERC on Thursday approved a notice of inquiry (NOI) seeking comments regarding how to address any double recovery of income tax cost resulting from the its current income tax allowance and rate of return policies [PL17-1].

Gulfport Energy Corp. has entered an $87 million agreement to acquire 12,600 net acres in Monroe County, OH, from an undisclosed seller. The undeveloped properties, 50% held by production, are near the company’s core position in the Utica Shale. Gulfport said it would fund the transaction with cash on hand. The bolt-on increases its Utica position to more than 223,000 net acres, with nearly 70% in the dry gas window. The sale is expected to close by the end of December.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted Dominion Transmission Inc.’s (DTI) Nov. 29request for authorization to place into service the Stonewall Metering and Regulating Station in Loudoun County, VA, a part of DTI’s Leidy South Project [CP15-492]. A supplemental request to commence service for the remaining Leidy South Project facilities is required, according to FERC. Leidy South would serve new and existing power generation facilities with natural gas traveling from the Leidy Interconnect in Clinton, PA, to points in Loudoun County. Panda Stonewall LLC, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc. and Mattawoman Energy LLC have signed binding agreements for all of the project capacity. The estimated cost is $209.66 million. DTI filed its application for the project with the Commission in 2015, received a favorable environmental assessment from staff in March and approval in late August.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission met Thursday and discussed proposed changes for the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). Among them no longer is the Sunset staff recommendation to change the commission’s name to reflect its role as a regulator of energy and not of railroads.

FERC enforcement staff rejected Total Gas & Power North America Inc.’s (TGPNA) arguments against staff’s allegations of natural gas market manipulation against the company and two of its trading managers Friday, but in a highly unusual move, staff also requested that the Commission schedule a hearing on certain factual matters before an administrative law judge (ALJ).

Tony Clarkparticipated in his last open meeting as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday. A former chairman of the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC), Clark was nominated to FERC by President Obama and was sworn in to fill a Republican seat at the Commission in 2012 (see Daily GPI,June 18, 2012). He was nominated to serve the balance of the term that was vacated by former Commissioner Marc Spitzer. He is a past president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1994 to 1997. Clark first announced that he would not seek reappointment in January (see Daily GPI,Aug. 8, Jan. 21). On Thursday, he said his last official day on the job will be Sept. 30. With Clark’s exit, FERC, which can have as many as five commissioners, will have only three, all of them Democrats: Chairman Norman Bay, Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur and Commissioner Colette Honorable.

FERC has granted a certificate for Dominion Transmission Inc.’s (DTI) Leidy South Project, which would serve new and existing power generation facilities with natural gas traveling from the Leidy Interconnect in Clinton, PA, to points in Loudoun County, VA.

A report by environmental group Clean Water Action (CWA) has called into question injection well practices in Texas, asserting that state regulators have failed to live up to a 1982 agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) disagrees.