Commissioners

The Department of Energy has called on officials from the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners to help develop an education plan designed to inform the public and state and national energy and environmental officials about development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and facilities.

As concern grows about the potential for high winter natural gas prices, the five commissioners of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) said they will preside over a public hearing on the issue on Sept. 18. The hearing will review current gas prices, discuss the forecasted supply and demand, outline programs to help consumers and increase consumer awareness related to gas prices for this winter.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has ratified a resolution calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its recent decision removing the five-year cap that limited the length of contract term that an existing shipper must match in order renew an expiring pipeline contract under the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) process (see NGI, Nov. 4). The action came at the group’s annual meeting in Chicago last week.

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is expected to vote Wednesday to ratify a resolution approved by its gas committee and board of directors earlier in the week, calling on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its recent decision removing the five-year cap that limited the length of contract term that an existing shipper must match in order renew an expiring pipeline contract under the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) process (see Daily GPI, Oct. 31).

The current commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “may be planting the seeds for a massive failure of the energy infrastructure,” a veteran market analyst said on Wednesday, citing “the most unprecedented and blatantly political decision” made by FERC’s chief law judge against El Paso Corp.

The current commissioners on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “may be planting the seeds for a massive failure of the energy infrastructure,” a veteran market analyst said on Wednesday, citing “the most unprecedented and blatantly political decision” made by FERC’s chief law judge against El Paso Corp.

FERC commissioners last week endorsed an inquiry into a staff proposal that calls for the Commission to convert full requirements (FR) service on the El Paso Natural Gas system to contract demand (CD) service, a move that potentially could resolve a long-simmering dispute over capacity allocation on the pipeline.

FERC commissioners Wednesday endorsed an inquiry into a staff proposal that calls for the Commission to convert full requirements (FR) service on the El Paso Natural Gas system to contract demand (CD) service, a move that potentially could resolve a long-simmering dispute over capacity allocation on the pipeline.

It was two former FERC commissioners who “actually played a role” in getting then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush to consider a relative unknown at the time, Patrick Wood III, for the position of state regulator, Wood disclosed last Thursday, in an attempt to dispel reports that long-time Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay pulled political strings for him.