Landmark

In a landmark maneuver Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of proposed standards to reduce air pollution from oil and natural gas drilling operations, with particular attention paid to shale development operations, which include hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

In a landmark maneuver Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of proposed standards to reduce air pollution from oil and natural gas drilling operations, with particular attention paid to shale development operations, which include hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

As the Pacific Northwest’s dominant energy player, the federal Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has adopted what it described as a landmark settlement on a residential exchange program that it hopes will end years of dispute over how BPA makes low-cost hydroelectric supplies available to small residential and farm customers of investor-owned utilities (IOU). Given the criticism of BPA for shunning natural gas and wind power generators in the face of abundant water supplies this spring and summer, the federal power behemoth is hoping it has a win-win, noting that the deal has the backing of six regional IOUs, three state regulatory commissions, and most public-sector utilities representing 88% of BPA’s customers and 93% of the power consumed in the region. Under the settlement, IOU customers are in line to get about $3.3 billion in payments during a 17-year period, beginning at $182.1 million in fiscal 2012 and increasing to $286.1 million by fiscal 2028.

Flanked by Senate and House leaders and key administration officials, President Obama last Wednesday signed into law landmark legislation that lays the groundwork for the biggest overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the 1930s.

Flanked by Senate and House leaders and key administration officials, President Obama Wednesday signed into law landmark legislation that lays the groundwork for the biggest overhaul of the financial regulatory system since the 1930s.

The landmark Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which will require the state’s largest investor-owned utility to replace 900 MW of coal-fired capacity with natural gas and alternative fuels, was signed into law last week by Gov. Bill Ritter.

The landmark Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which will require the state’s largest investor-owned utility to replace 900 MW of coal-fired capacity with natural gas and alternative fuels, was signed into law Monday by Gov. Bill Ritter.

The landmark Colorado Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act, which will require the state’s largest investor-owned utility to replace 900 MW of coal-fired capacity with natural gas and alternative fuels, was signed into law Monday by Gov. Bill Ritter.

After more than a year of negotiations, a landmark agreement to protect Utah’s cultural resources while permitting “orderly and environmentally responsible” natural gas development on the West Tavaputs Plateau near Nine Mile Canyon by Bill Barrett Corp. is to be finalized Tuesday (Jan. 5) with a signing ceremony at the state capitol in Salt Lake City, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Utah said.