Counsel

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. officials said Monday that the company’s senior vice president/general counsel, Steven Helmers, will retire at the end of June and will be succeeded by Brian Iverson, currently senior vice president for regulatory/governmental affairs at the multi-state utility holding company. Iverson has held the additional role of assistant general counsel in recent years. Iverson has effectively assumed his new role and will retain his regulatory and government affairs responsibilities, reporting to CEO David Emery. Helmers will provide transition support until his retirement.

A coalition of conservation groups on Thursday filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over its amending of 10 resource management plans (RMP) earlier this year to open more than 800,000 acres for future oil shale and tar sands leasing.

Quicksilver Resources Inc. is hoping to turn some of its Barnett Shale assets into a cash breadbasket through the creation of a master limited partnership (MLP). Proceeds would be used to pay down Quicksilver debt.

Joseph Martens was confirmed as commissioner of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on Tuesday.

During a state Senate confirmation hearing, the acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) promised to let “sound science” guide his decisions about Marcellus Shale activity in the state.

Joseph Martens, who was tapped by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday to lead New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), last year suggested the state wait until a federal study had been completed on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) impacts to health and the environment before implementing rules for Marcellus Shale drillers.

An official with a major New York-based environmental advocacy group said he supports the practice of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) in the production of shale gas, and believes it can be done safely, despite what critics claim.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) has asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to dismiss a Dominion East Ohio (DEO) application for an increase in gas distribution rates because the utility has failed to publish complete public notices of its application, which has since been consolidated with an infrastructure replacement program, the OCC said. Also last week, an auction for gas supply raised the rate that standard service offer (SSO) customers will pay if they buy their gas supply from DEO.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) has asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to dismiss a Dominion East Ohio (DEO) application for an increase in gas distribution rates because the utility has failed to publish complete public notices of its application, which has since been consolidated with a infrastructure replacement program, the OCC said.