Jerry

As a formal set of proposed rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) moves through preliminary public review in California, Gov. Jerry Brown last Wednesday expressed confidence that his state’s oil and gas regulators would apply “science and common sense” to frack regulations.

California Gov. Jerry Brown named a new commissioner to the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Carla Peterman, currently a Brown-appointee on the California Energy Commission (CEC). Separately, the CEC also announced that Brown reappointed Karen Douglas, to the CEC, which is operating with four of its five-member seats currently filled. Peterman succeeds Timothy Alan Simon, whose six-year appointment ends Dec. 31. Simon had been the CPUC natural gas expert and served as chairman of the gas committee at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Before joining the CEC in 2011, Peterman served on the board of The Utility Reform Network. Douglas has served on the CEC since 2008 and prior to that was director of California Climate Initiative for the Environmental Defense Fund. Both appointments requires state Senate confirmation.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed four measures into law aimed at advancing clean fuel transportation in the nation’s most populous state for cars and people.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed into law a bill (SB 1409) to establish closer coordination on energy policy between the state and U.S. military installations located in California. The Energy Security Coordination Act of 2012 directs the governor’s Office of Planning and Research to serve as a liaison between the state and the U.S. Defense Department “to coordinate and collaborate on clean energy policy.” The planning office will work with the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission to make sure the military bases are part of the state’s future development of energy and environmental policies. Separately, Brown signed 16 other measures dealing with renewable energy, climate change and energy efficiency.

California Gov. Jerry Brown last Friday signed a bill (AB 1694) into law that is aimed at improving safety of the historically lightly regulated natural gas and propane distribution piping systems at mobile home parks in the state.

California Gov. Jerry Brown said last Friday that he plans to take a closer look at the oil/gas industry’s use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state, speaking at a renewable energy conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and to news media afterwards.

The last of Gov. Jerry Brown’s three appointments to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), Mark Ferron, won confirmation from the California Senate to a six-year term that began last year. The five-member CPUC now has a full complement of regulators. Ferron, a former investment banker with Deutsche Bank, Salomon Brothers and Bank of America, brings a financial background to the regulatory panel. Prior to his appointment, Ferron was a senior partner at Silicon Valley Social Ventures and a board fellow of the New Teacher Center.

Two high-ranking state oil/gas drilling officials were fired by California’s Gov. Jerry Brown for putting too many roadblocks in the state’s permitting process, it was reported Monday. The move brought immediate praise from the exploration/production (E&P) industry, which has increasingly been critical of what its leaders viewed as an overly arduous process for obtaining permits to drill new wells.

Two high-ranking state oil/gas drilling officials were fired by California’s Gov. Jerry Brown for putting too many roadblocks in the state’s permitting process, it was reported Monday. The move brought immediate praise from the exploration/production (E&P) industry, which has increasingly been critical of what its leaders viewed as an overly arduous process for obtaining permits to drill new wells.