Conduct

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) said Monday it plans to conduct a public forum on electric (EV) and natural gas vehicles (NGV) to help the five-member PUC and other state agencies determine how they can best foster stepped up investment in alternative fuel vehicles.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline group and gas utility association have called on FERC to conduct regional technical conferences to address coordination issues between the gas and electricity markets, while a group of New York Transmission Owners (NYTO) recommended that independent system operators/regional transmission organizations (ISOs/RTOs) be required to submit compliance filings identifying how they plan to respond to coordination problems.

A major interstate natural gas pipeline group and gas utility association have called on FERC to conduct regional technical conferences to address coordination issues between the gas and electricity markets, while a group of New York Transmission Owners (NYTO) recommended that independent system operators/regional transmission organization (ISOs/RTOs) be required to submit compliance filings identifying how they plan to respond to coordination problems.

Despite problems with past energy lease sales in Utah, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District plans to conduct additional planning and analysis for new natural gas, oil and potash (mined salt) leasing on about 783,000 acres of public lands within the Moab and Monticello planning areas in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, the Interior Department’s BLM intends to prepare a master leasing plan (MLP), amendments to the Moab and Monticello Resource Management Plans (RMP) and a single environmental impact statement (EIS).

Extracting natural gas from shale formations using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) “has no direct connection” to groundwater contamination reports, based on a study of three big shale gas plays in the United States, the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) said in a new report.

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. says it is “disappointed” and “concerned” over a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct water sampling in Dimock Township, PA, saying the action duplicates a state investigation, causes regulatory uncertainty and conflicts with Obama administration policy.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking nominations of nationally and/or internationally recognized scientists or engineers to conduct a “thorough and unbiased review” of a draft agency report released in December, which found that groundwater in Pavillion, WY, may be polluted by natural gas drilling and well stimulation practices (including hydraulic fracturing).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking nominations of nationally and/or internationally recognized scientists or engineers to conduct a “thorough and unbiased review” of a controversial draft report released in December, which found that groundwater in Pavillion, WY, may be polluted by natural gas drilling and well stimulation practices (including hydraulic fracturing).

Having outlined guidelines for balancing sage grouse and economic protections, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Monday said it will conduct a series of eight scoping meetings in Utah Jan. 17-Feb. 1 to gain feedback on an environmental impact statement (EIS).