Formally

The Boulder County, CO, commission on Tuesday formally extended a moratorium on new oil and natural gas drilling permits to June 10. However, the commission left the door open to lifting the ban earlier if the county’s new drilling rules are in place.

As perhaps a harbinger of climate change and cap-and-trade efforts aimed at greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Arizona formally pulled out of the regional Western Climate Initiative (WCI), a once-promising multi-state effort involving seven states and four Canadian provinces. California and the provinces now appear to be leading the charge alone.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally announced Friday that it has reinstated a requirement that oil and gas companies — and other industries — disclose the amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) their operations release into the environment.

Acknowledging that long-term improvements are needed, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) formally filed with state regulators Friday its multi-year plan to upgrade its natural gas pipeline infrastructure and operations to make them “one of the safest in the country.”

Energy efficiency continues to make a dent in the national energy markets, with more states than ever formally measuring the annual impact of utility driven energy savings programs, according to two reports from the independent nonprofit American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Twenty-four states have implemented energy efficiency resource standards (EERS) in the past six years, following the lead of Texas and Vermont, and 13 of the 19 states with EERS policies in place for two years or longer achieved 100% or more of their goals; three states reached 90%; and the remaining three achieved 80%, according to ACEEE’s first report, “Energy Efficiency Resource Standards: A Progress Report on State Energy Saving Targets.” The second report documents how utilities are planning to increase their efforts to hit these higher energy saving levels. Six states with reportedly the largest and most successful efficiency programs — California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Vermont — are highlighted in some detail in terms of their ongoing and planned programs. Another six states among the next tier are also highlighted — Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

A goal of having 33% of the state’s electricity come from renewable resources by 2020 was formally codified into California law by Gov. Jerry Brown Tuesday while he helped open a new solar equipment manufacturing site in the East San Francisco Bay area by Sun Power.

The presumptive chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), has formally asked House Republicans to consider combining the energy jurisdictions of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee into one committee — the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The presumptive chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), has formally asked House Republicans to consider combining the energy jurisdictions of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee into one committee — the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Although the Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) has not formally announced it, analysts believe that a Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and natural gas lease sale scheduled for March 2011 will probably be shelved.