Death

Victory for Republican candidate Tom Corbett in the race for governor of Pennsylvania and the replacement of split leadership in the legislature with the GOP takeover of both houses may be the death knell for a natural gas severance tax in the state — or not.

Victory for Republican candidate Tom Corbett in the race for governor of Pennsylvania and a Republican-led legislature may be the death knell for a natural gas severance tax in the state — or not.

Calpine Corp. announced the death of William J. Patterson, 48, chairman of its board of directors since January 2008. A private investor and philanthropist in the San Francisco Bay Area, Patterson was a managing director of SPO Partners & Co., an approximate 21% owner of Calpine since it emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2008. Prior to that Patterson chaired the creditors committee that steered Calpine through the bankruptcy process. Ultimately he helped rebuild the board and management team. Calpine said “in due course” its board will meet and appoint a new chairman. Patterson died Sept. 24.

The death toll from a Sunday explosion at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, should stand at five, according to Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who said everyone assigned to work at the blast site when the explosion occurred has been accounted for.

The death toll from a Sunday explosion at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, should stand at five, according to Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who said everyone assigned to work at the blast site when the explosion occurred has been accounted for.

R. Bruce Northcutt, the president and COO of Copano Energy LLC, has been elected CEO following the death of John R. Eckel Jr., who was chairman and CEO. Eckel, who was 58, founded Copano in 1992 and served as president and CEO until April 2003 when he was named chairman. Under Eckel’s leadership, Copano grew from a single 23-mile natural gas pipeline to a successful midstream natural gas company with more than 6,000 miles of pipeline and seven processing plants in Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming and Louisiana. Copano was the first midstream company to trade publicly as a limited liability company. In addition to his roles at Copano, Eckel served on the board and on the executive committee of the Texas Pipeline Association, and as CEO of Live Oak Reserves Inc., an exploration and production company that he founded in 1986. William L. Thacker, who has served on Copano’s board since the company’s initial public offering, has been elected chairman.

Borrowing liberally from Mark Twain’s famous quote, it would appear that reports of the death of coal as a power plant fuel “have been greatly exaggerated” as the siting competition for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) FutureGen clean coal power project continues to heat up. Last week, Ohio joined the growing alliance of coal producing and consuming states in support of locating the federal FutureGen project in Illinois, noting that it is “essential” to site the project in a location that will maximize the transferability of the project’s technology.

Weaver’s Cove LNG, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project that seemed hardest to kill, may have finally received a death blow. Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River) and state Rep. Robert Correia (D-Fall River) said last Monday that legislation they sponsored to restrict LNG tankers in Massachusetts waters passed in both the House and Senate and was enacted on Monday.

Weaver’s Cove LNG, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project that seemed hardest to kill, may have finally received a death blow. Massachusetts state Sen. Joan Menard (D-Fall River) and state Rep. Robert Correia (D-Fall River) said Monday that legislation they created to restrict LNG tankers passed in both the House and Senate late Thursday night and was enacted on Monday.