Meeting

When the gavel sounded Thursday on the opening of FERC's monthly meeting in Washington, DC, there were only three commissioners at the table, while two chairs, including one normally held by Chairman Kevin McIntyre, were empty.

FERC on Thursday issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) that could lead to a revision of its policies regarding the review and authorization of interstate natural gas transportation facilities under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act.

FERC will review a decades-old policy that governs how it evaluates natural gas pipeline proposals, Kevin McIntyre said Thursday during his first monthly meeting as chairman of the regulatory agency.

While a few technical items must still be addressed, Chairman Neil Chatterjee on Thursday declared the backlog of cases that built up during FERC’s recent no-quorum period cleared following the unanimous approval of a lengthy consent agenda.

PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC urged FERC Thursday to take prompt action on the project’s certification, joining Nexus Gas Transmission LLC on the list of proposed natural gas pipelines looking to move forward now that the Commission has regained its quorum.

It is unlikely that producers will be able to meet North Dakota’s next natural gas capture goal early next year, so the state’s chief energy regulator on Wednesday asked elected officials to postpone the requirement, which is set to begin Jan. 1.

Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) on Friday disputed a state regulatory judge’s ruling on 10 alleged ex parte violations by the utility, contending that only one of the violations was a reportable communication under current state regulatory rules. No large penalty or sanction should he imposed, SCE argued.

In FERC’s first open meeting since it adopted a rule to rein in show-stopping protests — and her last meeting as chairman — Cheryl LaFleur on Thursday was forced to clear the room before the meeting even began when demonstrators began shouting their opposition to an issue not on the agenda.

In a rough and tumble roundtable meeting at FERC headquarters in Washington, DC, electric generators and grid operators, most of them from the Northeast, said they want natural gas markets and infrastructure altered to meet their peak demand needs. Gas pipelines and producers who rallied to defend their market made it very clear that they don’t think it needs radical changes.