Decision

The British Columbia (BC) government pledged Wednesday to hold provincial royalties and taxes at low levels for the lifespan of Pacific NorthWest LNG if the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal is built.

Seven conservation groups have filed suit against the Department of Interior (DOI) and its U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) after regulators declined to add two rare wildflowers that only grow in the Uinta Basin in Colorado and Utah to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

A former executive of BG Group plc on Tuesday said his recently formed company will pursue a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Louisiana, one day after UK-based BG Group said it was delaying a decision on the Louisiana LNG project it is pursuing with Energy Transfer Partners LP.

UIL Holdings Corp. has terminated its $1.86 billion agreement to purchase Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), the nation’s largest municipally-owned gas utility, after the city council’s decision in October to rule out what it deemed a risky sale.

In four decisions that could go through a still-lengthy review process, two California regulatory commission judges on Tuesday recommended $1.4 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) for the fatal San Bruno natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion four years ago (see Daily GPI,Sept. 13, 2010).

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday dismantled the state’s argument that the Public Utilities Commission could still review and challenge local zoning ordinances that did not facilitate oil and gas development in a ruling that preserved a key decision by the state Supreme Court in December.

As a clearer picture emerges from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent ruling that struck down key provisions of the state’s most comprehensive oil and gas legislation, the court’s decision is likely to have some repercussions for a decade or more, sources say, with the impact extending across the spectrum and touching more than just the pace of the industry’s operations in the Marcellus Shale.

New Jersey has appealed a judge’s decision last month that struck down a Board of Public Utilities (BPU) plan to have ratepayers subsidize the cost to build new natural gas-fired power plants.

A Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) order issued last year that required utilities to enter into long-term power supply contracts with a developer chosen by the PSC to build a natural gas-fired plant was invalidated by a U.S. District Court judge Monday.