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A municipal natural gas group has called on President-elect Obama to support amending Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to address a “fatal flaw” that prevents customers from collecting retroactive refunds when they have been overcharged by pipelines.

A major interstate pipeline group called on President-elect Obama last Wednesday to maintain the existing statutory authority under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) that gives FERC exclusive jurisdiction over the siting and approval of interstate natural gas pipelines.

A major interstate pipeline group called on President-elect Obama Wednesday to maintain the existing statutory authority under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) that gives FERC exclusive jurisdiction over the siting and approval of interstate natural gas pipelines.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is moving quickly to get President-elect Obama’s energy and environmental nominees confirmed by the Senate. It has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, who has been tapped to be secretary of energy, for Jan. 13, and the confirmation hearing for Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO), Obama’s choice for Interior Department secretary, for Jan. 15.

In formally tapping Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) for secretary of the Interior Department, President-elect Obama last Wednesday gave him the tough assignment of cleaning up the troubled agency whose image has been scarred by scandal during the past year. Salazar was the last pick to round out Obama’s energy and environmental team. Obama also moved quickly last week to unveil his financial regulatory team, selecting Gary Gensler, former undersecretary of the Treasury and partner at Goldman Sachs, as his nominee for chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

President-elect Obama Thursday selected Gary Gensler, former undersecretary of the Treasury and partner at Goldman Sachs, as his nominee for chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

In formally tapping Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) for secretary of the Interior Department, President-elect Obama Wednesday gave him the tough assignment of cleaning up the troubled agency whose image has been scarred by scandal during the past year.

President-elect Barack Obama Thursday said that neither he nor his office had any involvement in Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s alleged “pay-to-play” conspiracy to cash in on his authority to appoint a successor to fill Obama’s vacated Senate seat.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to pick Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley as chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Washington sources said Wednesday.