Hydropower

Federal regulators are set to reconsider whether New York took too long to issue a water quality certification (WQC) for the embattled Constitution Pipeline after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday granted a motion to remand the matter back to FERC at the commission’s request.

A federal appeals court ruling over a hydropower project in California and Oregon could have major implications for oil and gas pipelines held up by state regulators refusing to issue water quality certifications.

Portland General Electric (PGE) senior executives indicated Friday that they are in negotiations for purchased power or power generation facilities that could eliminate the need to add more natural gas-fired units at the power utility’s 440 MW Carty Generating Station, which opened last year.

As state and federal officials last week were assessing the potential for the drought to impact hydroelectric power this summer, California Independent System Operator (CAISO) on Thursday issued a conservation alert because of a shortage of natural gas supplies that underpin much of the state’s power generation.

Declining hydropower availability in the Pacific Northwest points to a higher reliance on natural gas in the future, according to a new report by the Northwest Gas Association (NWGA), a group that includes the major gas distribution and transmission companies in the region, which includes 44,000 miles of gas pipelines and about 2.5 million gas consuming homes, businesses and industry.

Expected tight power supplies and transmission constraints in California, New York City, Long Island and southern Connecticut, and high and volatile energy prices across the board highlighted a summer assessment by FERC’s Office of Market Oversight and Investigation (OMOI) at a regular Commission meeting on Thursday.

Scorching summer heat, high oil prices and a weak hydropowersupply should lead to a significant increase in gas demand thisyear, according to a report issued last week by Friedman, Billings,Ramsey & Co., Inc. (FBR), a Virginia-based financialinstitution. Prices will probably increase throughout the summer,the firm predicted.

Southern Energy Inc., a unit of Southern Co., will buy 1,776 MWof gas, oil, coal and hydropower generation from Orange andRockland Utilities Inc. and Consolidated Edison Inc. in New YorkState for about $480 million. Southern also plans to spend $390million to upgrade the plants and build up to 710 MW of newgas-fired generation. Southern Energy affiliate Southern CompanyEnergy Marketing will market output from the plants.