Maryland

The Department of Commerce Thursday issued a decision overriding the State of Maryland’s objection to the AES Sparrows Point LLC proposal for a 1.5 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal and pipeline east of the Port of Baltimore, and at the same time upheld the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ objection to a Weaver’s Cove Energy LLC proposal for an LNG facility and associated pipeline near Fall River, MA.

The Department of Commerce Thursday issued a decision overriding the State of Maryland’s objection to the AES Sparrows Point LLC proposal for a 1.5 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal and pipeline east of the Port of Baltimore, and at the same time upheld the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ objection to a Weaver’s Cove Energy LLC proposal for an LNG facility and associated pipeline near Fall River, MA.

PPL EnergyPlus, a seller of wholesale and retail electricity based in eastern Pennsylvania, began offering retail natural gas to commercial and industrial customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, the company said Tuesday.

Maryland’s Critical Areas Commission earlier this month gave its stamp of approval to Baltimore County’s ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in certain Chesapeake Bay coastal areas. At the same time, attorneys for a proposed LNG terminal and the county squared off in federal court over whether the prohibition conflicted with federal law.

Maryland’s Critical Areas Commission last week gave its stamp of approval to Baltimore County’s ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in certain Chesapeake Bay coastal areas. At the same time, attorneys for a proposed LNG terminal and the county squared off in federal court over whether the prohibition conflicted with federal law.

Dominion declared an operational flow order on its PL-1 system for deliveries to Virginia and Maryland.

Dominion Resources is disputing Washington Gas Light’s (WGL) interpretation of a study of widespread gas leaks on the WGL distribution system in Maryland. Dominion says WGL’s aging distribution system was to blame for gas leaks, which began to increase in 2003, but WGL said the “key contributing factor” identified by the study was the presence of a large amount of imported LNG from Dominion’s Cove Point terminal in Lusby, MD.

USGen New England Inc. on Tuesday said the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division, approved the sale of the company’s two coal/oil-fired electric generating facilities and a natural gas-fired plant to Dominion. The sale still requires certain regulatory approvals and transfer of all operating and environmental permits.

Dominion, which owns the Cove Point LNG import terminal in Maryland, is dusting off a 30-year-old plan to deliver LNG to distant storage tanks along the East Coast via specially designed barges.