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Michael Picker, 62, has been named to the California Public Utilities Commission by Gov. Jerry Brown. Mark Ferron resigned from the five-member regulatory panel for health reasons (see Daily GPI, Jan. 16). Picker, a director of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, plans to resign that position before joining the commission. The appointment requires confirmation by the state Senate.

It was a week of all positives for NGI’s weekly spot gas prices as every market point registered gains, from as little as a quarter to as much as $70 for the week ended Jan. 24. Nationally prices rose $3.58 to average $8.17, but there was a wide variance. The onslaught of Polar Vortex II made sure the Northeast experienced the greatest advances with several points making double-digit dollar gains and new record highs recorded with some points in and around New York City registering high trades from $125 to $140.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has authorized the transfer of certain natural gas distribution facilities in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas from Oneok Inc. to ONE Gas Inc. as part of a company reorganization (CP13-550-000). The FERC order came three weeks after the board of directors on Wednesday unanimously approved the separation of the company’s natural gas distribution business into ONE Gas, a stand-alone, publicly traded company (see Daily GPI, Jan. 8). ONE Gas would consist of Kansas Gas Service, Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. and Texas Gas Service, and be headquartered in Tulsa. It would be one of the largest natural gas utilities in the United States, serving more than two million customers in three states, and a 100% regulated, publicly traded natural gas utility. The plan to spin off the utility business was announced in 2013 (see Daily GPI, July 26, 2013). ONE Gas common stock is expected to begin “regular-way” trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday (Feb. 3) under the symbol “OGS.”

The physical natural gas market for Friday delivery was well scrambled in Thursday’s trading.

EP Energy Corp.has completed an initial public offering of 35.2 million shares of common stock at price of $20.00/share after its launch on the New York Stock Exchange (see Shale Daily, Jan. 17). The former El Paso Corp. exploration unit began trading on Jan. 17 (EPE). Underwriters have a month-long option to purchase an additional 5.28 million shares at the public offering price. At midday Thursday EPE was trading at around $18.60. Permian Basin explorer RSP Permian Inc., which launched with EPE for a similar price, raised close to $400 million; it recently was trading above $20.00. Appalachian explorer Rice Energy Inc. is set to launch Friday at similar terms (see Shale Daily, Jan. 13).

Brigadier Gen. Jack Hagan said Wednesday he was retiring as director of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) safety and enforcement division, a unit that was reorganized after the 2010 San Bruno transmission pipeline rupture (see Daily GPI, July 26, 2011). A former U.S. Marine infantry officer and member of the California governor’s homeland security unit, Hagan was brought in to the CPUC in 2012 to head the newly reorganized safety/investigative function at the commission (see Daily GPI, April 9, 2012). The CPUC has begun a search for Hagan’s replacement.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday rolled out a new energy plan aimed at business and industry leaders across the country that highlights the state’s competitive advantages and touts its oil and gas production as a beacon for national energy independence.

Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said President Obama “deserves credit for his resolve to take on climate change,” but he added that “considerable work by the administration” remains, and a privately funded clean energy group founded and chaired by Ritter said 29 policy recommendations covering natural gas issues should be enacted.

In Wednesday’s article It’s Back; Polar Vortex II Prompts New Gas Price Records (see Daily GPI, Jan. 21), NGI reported that Genscape’s Southeast Mid-Atlantic Natural Gas Basis Commentary revealed that demand in the region had decreased 6.67 Bcf/d from last week’s average of 13.97 Bcf/d to 7.21 Bcf/d. However, Genscape had issued a correction stating that Southeast Mid-Atlantic demand actually had increased by 0.4 Bcf/d to 15.8 Bcf/d from last week’s average of 15.4 Bcf/d. NGI regrets the error.