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With record natural gas storage inventories and a lack of winter weather (until this week), some may not think it’s the time to talk about expanding North American storage facilities. But those in the know would beg to differ.

Anyone who doesn’t think the North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry has been evolving only needs to look back about two years to see how far things have come.

Anyone who doesn’t think the North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry has been evolving only needs to look back about two years to see how far things have come.

American Electric Power (AEP) CEO Michael Morris last Wednesday said that he doesn’t believe mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are inevitable, at least in the near term. “I don’t think that there’s a consensus in the Senate that would take you to that place,” he told reporters at a Washington, DC, briefing sponsored by the Energy Daily and BP America.

The year 2005 saw a smooth change of the guard at FERC as Chairman Joseph Kelliher took over the reins from Pat Wood in mid-year, and was marked by significant policy changes and clarifications on the natural gas side, along with agency approval of several key liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline and storage projects.

Although it doesn’t need to revise its power forecasts for the region, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s power planning director Monday told the group’s oversight board power committee that natural gas prices were high even before the Gulf of Mexico hurricanes and they have increased dramatically following the back-to-back natural disasters. The power council’s plans shaped late last year anticipated the type of wholesale gas price volatility being experienced, according to Terry Morlan, the council planning director.

Claiming it doesn’t have to make any acquisitions to meet the company’s growth plan over the next five years, Sempra Energy’s COO and CEO-to-be, Don Felsinger said Tuesday in New York City that a major focus now is to bring in the first of the company’s three liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in North America on time and under budget. The Costa Azul LNG terminal along the Pacific Coast of North Baja, Mexico, alone, pencils out to $100 million in net income annually once it is operational in 2008.

If Congress doesn’t move forward with a comprehensive energy bill that includes electric reliability provisions or a stand-alone power reliability bill, FERC and the power industry “are going to have to work together to figure out what we can do to try to prevent a repeat of the blackout in August of 2003,” a top official with FERC said last Wednesday at a meeting sponsored by the Energy Bar Association (EBA).

Expanding on Cinergy’s plans to reduce emissions ahead of regulatory requirements, CEO James Rogers said the Midwestern company that serves 1.5 million customers and burns 30 million tons of coal per year will continue to face environmental and capacity addition issues.