Legislator

A key legislator in Pennsylvania said he plans to introduce a bill to create a nine-member Marcellus Shale Health Advisory Panel in the near future, a move suggested in the past by both Gov. Tom Corbett and the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission (MSAC).

A legislator in the Maryland House of Delegates announced Wednesday that she plans to introduce a bill next year that would impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale until a comprehensive scientific study is completed.

A legislator in the Pennsylvania General Assembly introduced two bills on Wednesday to amend the state constitution and make the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a commissioner post elected by the public, rather than one appointed by the governor.

With both tight gas sands and oil shale development emerging in the state, a California legislator has introduced a bill (AB 591) seeking to require public disclosure of any chemicals used in oil/gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

New Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has tapped wind energy executive Tanuj “T.J.” Deora to head the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO). Deora replaces a former state legislator, Tom Plant.

Former Wyoming legislator Randall Luthi has been named director of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), taking over from acting Director Walter Cruickshank, who stepped into the position when Johnnie Burton resigned in May (see Daily GPI, May 9). Luthi, who had been deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a former speaker and majority leader of the Wyoming House of Representatives. The Interior Department press release particularly pointed out that Luthi had been a legislative member of the Energy Council, an organization of representatives of producing states and energy-related industries. And in Wyoming “Luthi was instrumental in formulation of state budgets which relied heavily upon royalties and severance taxes paid by energy companies developing federal leases,” the release said. Burton, who had served as MMS director for five years, had been accused of not being aggressive enough in collecting all of the oil and gas royalties due to the government from offshore leases and in recovering lost royalties from flawed leases.

As part of a package of proposed legislation that is expected to emerge by the end of the month, California’s leading legislator examining wholesale energy market participants indicated on Tuesday that legislation will be introduced related to published natural gas prices in trade publications that compile indexes used by regulators and market participants. The new law could preclude state regulators from using the price indexes for setting electricity rates.

As part of a package of proposed legislation that is expected to emerge by the end of the month, California’s leading legislator examining wholesale energy market participants indicated on Tuesday that legislation will be introduced related to published natural gas prices in trade publications that compile indexes used by regulators and market participants. The new law could preclude state regulators from using the price indexes for setting electricity rates.

Talking to local news media in the state, a Nevada state senator earlier this week took on the case of Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources and one of its two electric utilities, Nevada Power Co., which is the target of a local ballot measure on public power and a unsolicited bid by a local public-sector water agency that counts as one of its largest customers.