General

Natural gas and oil drilling in Ohio could create 65,000 jobs and add nearly $5 billion to state coffers by 2014, according to an academic study.

Arizona regulators opened a prehearing conference on a 4% general rate increase request by UNS Gas Inc., the UniSource Energy Corp. natural gas distribution utility in parts of Arizona. The Arizona Corporation Commission has scheduled evidentiary hearings to run through Feb. 17. UNS is asking for an annual revenue increase of $5.6 million, increasing its rate base to $254 million, effective May 1. Tucson, AZ-based UniSource Energy is the holding company for UniSource Energy Services, which provides gas and electric services to about 237,000 customers, along with Tucson Electric Power, which provides electricity to more than 400,000 customers in southern Arizona.

A state official said a bill advancing in the Pennsylvania General Assembly that offers tax breaks to large businesses could also be used to help the state lure an ethane cracker and the thousands of jobs it would provide.

AT&T continued expanding its use of natural gas vehicles (NGV) with an announcement by General Motors that the telecommunications company plans to buy 1,200 of its Chevrolet Express compressed natural gas (CNG) cargo vans for use at its service centers around the nation. GM said this is its largest single order ever for NGVs. AT&T has 2,472 fleet vehicles now running on natural gas and plans to spend $565 million through 2018 to deploy up to 15,000 clean fuel vehicles, mostly NGVs with a mix of electric vehicles and hybrids (see Daily GPI, March 2, 2011). AT&T operates a fleet of more than 73,000 vehicles.

Portland General Electric (PGE) issued a draft request for proposals (RFP) Thursday seeking bids in the second quarter for up to 950 MW of additional generating capacity that would be mostly natural gas-fueled. The new power sources are expected to come online during a five-year period (2013-2017).

Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has filed a civil lawsuit against the Department of Interior (DOI) over the federal government’s redrawing of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) boundaries that determine how states receive mineral royalties.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. has named John Benton vice president and general manager of the energy holding company’s oil and gas production unit, Black Hills Exploration & Production. Benton is replacing John Vering, a Black Hills board member who has served as interim CEO of the E&P unit and will return to his board position. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering from Colorado School of Mines, Benton comes to Black Hills from Rex Energy Corp., where he headed development of the company’s Niobrara acreage in Wyoming and Colorado.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has elected a top Chesapeake Energy Corp. executive to lead the industry coalition into 2012.

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP and a joint venture (JV) it has formed with an affiliate of its general partner have agreed to pay $550 million in cash to acquire Petal Gas Storage LLC and Hattiesburg Gas Storage Co. from Enterprise Products Partners LP, the companies said last week.