Legislative

Interstate natural gas pipelines have eked out economic and transportation efficiency gains on their systems despite challenges on the financial, regulatory and legislative fronts, according to a white paper released last Wednesday by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA).

The head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has called on Congress to eliminate clearing exemptions and toughen language in the Obama administration’s legislative proposal for regulatory reform of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets and dealers.

A business-labor coalition told an Oregon legislative committee Thursday it opposes a bill (HB 2015), which it alleges would prevent development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the state. Energy Action Northwest said it is fighting for “responsible energy policy.”

While the composition of the three-member Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) remains intact, by state legislative mandate, on Monday the regulators had to name a new president, so they elected a former state lawmaker, Jim Kempton, to a two-year term heading the regulatory body. Kempton replaces Mack Redford, who remains on the regulatory panel. Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter appointed Kempton, from Albion, ID, to the PUC in October 2007 to fill an unexpired term of then-Commissioner Paul Kjellander, who was selected by the governor to head up a newly created state Office of Energy Resources. Before joining the PUC, Kempton was one of two Idaho representatives on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, to which he had been appointed by former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. In this capacity he acted as the state’s cabinet-level representative for natural resources. Kempton served in the Idaho House of Representatives from 1991 to 2000, where his committee assignments included those on the environment, taxation and transportation among others. Kempton holds two degree in physics and is a former faculty member at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He once served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Dialing in a focus on the state’s aging natural gas pipeline infrastructure, the Pennsylvania Gas Association (PGA), a subsidiary of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, last week launched a public and legislative campaign focused on replacing the older lines and associated facilities in the state.

Dialing in a focus on the state’s aging natural gas pipeline infrastructure, the Pennsylvania Gas Association (PGA), a subsidiary of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, on Monday launched a public and legislative campaign focused on replacing the older lines and associated facilities in the state.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), a leading electronic energy trading platform, Friday assailed congressional Democrats’ “hastily submitted” legislative proposals that it says place “arbitrary controls” on regulated energy futures markets.

Gov. Mike Beebe has called the Arkansas General Assembly into a special legislative session to consider his proposal to increase the state’s severance tax to help pay for an ongoing roads program. The proposed increase could raise an estimated $57 million next year and reach the $100 million mark by 2013 without increasing natural gas rates for residential customers, Beebe said.

Gov. Mike Beebe has called the Arkansas General Assembly into a special legislative session to consider his proposal to increase the state’s severance tax to help pay for an ongoing roads program. The proposed increase could raise an estimated $57 million next year and reach the $100 million mark by 2013 without increasing natural gas rates for residential customers, Beebe said.