Commission

Linden (Linn) Evanswas named to the new position of president/COO at Black Hills Corp., effective Jan. 1, according to CEO David Emery, who relinquished his president’s title while remaining chairman/CEO. Evans, who joined Black Hills in 2001 as an attorney, has been president/COO of the Black Hills utilities since 2004. Evans’ new role will include all of the company’s business segments, including the addition of oil/gas exploration and production subsidiary and newly acquired SourceGas utilities (see Daily GPI, July 13).

FERC has directed Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) to respond to comments from more than two-dozen local government and other entities that have commented in the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project docket [CP16-21;PF14-22]. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also said the Kinder Morgan Inc. pipeline’s November certificate filing (see Daily GPI,Nov. 20) “did not provide adequate data for alternative comparisons” and enumerated nine specific requests for additional information. FERC gave TGP 20 days from the date of the Dec. 8 letter to respond. “Also, we expect to be requesting other clarifications or information in the future,” the Commission said. The $5 billion NED project would provide additional pipeline capacity from Appalachia shale basins to Northeast markets.

FERC staff said it will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) for Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) Orion Project, a looping of the pipeline’s 300 Line that would target the Middle Atlantic and New England regions with additional service from Susquehanna County, PA, to Pike County, PA. The project’s 135,000 Dth/d of capacity is fully subscribed by South Jersey Resources Group LLC, South Jersey Gas Co., and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., according to the Kinder Morgan Inc. pipeline (see Daily GPI,Oct. 9). More than two-dozen gas distribution systems, led by the Municipal Gas Authority of Mississippi have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require TGP to justify its proposal to charge system fuel and electric compression rates as part of the project (see Daily GPI,Nov. 16). Comments on the project are due at the Commission by Dec. 23 [CP16-4].

The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia Tuesday denied approval of the acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc. (PHI) by Exelon Corp., with commissioners saying the combination is not in the public interest. It is the only regulatory body to oppose the merger.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced Friday that Mark Wetjen, a former acting chairman of the Commission and a member since 2011, will be resigning later this month.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an executive order on Thursday to establish a 14-member commission to focus on workplace safety in the oil and natural gas industry. The move follows a spike in fatal accidents at drilling and other related sites in the state over the last decade.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an executive order on Thursday to establish a 14-member commission to focus on workplace safety in the oil and natural gas industry. The move follows a spike in fatal accidents at drilling and other related sites in the state over the last decade.

Pressure tests of five Johnson County, TX, drilling waste disposal wells in the area of a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred May 7 "provide no conclusive evidence" the wells were a causal factor, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said Friday.

Pressure tests of five Johnson County, TX, drilling waste disposal wells in the area of a 4.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred May 7 “provide no conclusive evidence” the wells were a causal factor, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) said Friday.