File

Staff of the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) is expected to file a motion Friday to dismiss rate hike requests from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSE&G) and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E). The utilities have said they face “a significant shortfall in cash needed to make required infrastructure investments,” but Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) appealed to the PSC to deny the increase, which he said “reeks of profit mongering.”

Staff of the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) was expected to file a motion Friday to dismiss rate hike requests from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSE&G) and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E). The utilities have said they face “a significant shortfall in cash needed to make required infrastructure investments,” but Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) appealed to the PSC to deny the increase, which he said “reeks of profit mongering.”

California regulators decided Thursday they will not try to establish a separate set of rules for utilities to file in undertaking supply contracts involving liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. It was agreed that LNG imports should compete “head-to-head” with domestic gas supplies, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said.

Baltimore County plans to file a petition this week with the Supreme Court challenging a federal appeals court ruling that struck down a county zoning ordinance banning the construction of the AES Sparrows Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Baltimore, MD, a county spokeswoman said.

Baltimore County plans to file a petition next week with the Supreme Court challenging a federal appeals court ruling that struck down a county zoning ordinance banning the construction of the AES Sparrows Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Baltimore, MD, a county spokeswoman said.

Falcon Gas Storage Co. Inc. subsidiary NorTex Gas Storage Co. LLC started flowing gas through its newly constructed Worsham-Steed Pipeline, the company said. The system is a 60-mile, 24-inch high-pressure pipeline in the western portion of the Barnett Shale play in North Texas. Initial flow rates have ranged 150,000-200,000 Mcf/d and are expected to increase as gas injection activity accelerates at the Falcon’s Worsham-Steed Gas Storage facility. Traversing Jack, Parker and Hood counties, the pipeline has a capacity of 450,000 Mcf/d, which can be expanded to 650,000 Mcf/d. The pipe connects with three export pipelines serving the North Texas market area — Energy Transfer’s Old Ocean pipeline, Enterprise Product’s and Energy Transfer’s North Texas Pipeline, and Atmos Energy’s Line X pipeline. These pipelines serve markets from the Waha Hub in West Texas to the Carthage Hub in Northeast Texas, as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding areas in North Texas, including the Barnett Shale. Ultimately, Falcon plans to connect the Worsham-Steed Pipeline with a total of 10 pipelines in the North Texas/Barnett Shale market area.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has extended the time to file comments in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) aimed at implementing the transparency provisions of the Energy Policy Act (AD06-11) and the staff has scheduled an informal workshop to discuss various implementation and other technical issues associated with the NOPR. The Commission said the extension was in response to a request by the Texas Gas Pipeline Association (TPA). The notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) would require intrastate gas pipelines to post on the Internet the daily capacities and volumes of natural gas flowing through their major receipt and delivery points. It also would require buyers and sellers of more than de minimus amounts of natural gas to report the numbers and volumes of relevant transactions for the previous calendar year. It also would require each holder of blanket marketing certificate authority or blanket unbundled sales services certificate authority to notify the Commission annually as to whether it reports its transactions to publishers of electricity or natural gas price indexes and whether the reporting conforms to certain standards. FERC extended the time for filing initial comments through July 11. Reply comments should be filed on or before Aug. 9. Questions about the conference should be directed to Lee Choo, lee-ken.choo@FERC.gov, (202) 502-6334.

FERC stirred up a hornets nest when it finalized a rule in October allowing utilities in five organized power markets to file for relief from the mandatory purchase obligation under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). Twenty-seven industrial associations, consumer groups and environmental organizations, released a joint statement last week blasting the new rule for its potential impact on power supply and the environment.

Sempra Energy is deciding whether it will file a counter suit in Mexico against a real estate broker who has accused the company of colluding with Baja California government officials in an “appalling abuse of power and corruption.”