Name

Three former House chairmen have called on the Republic transition team to name Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) to a second term as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, despite a long-standing rule that prohibits a lawmaker from serving more than three consecutive terms as a chairman and ranking member.

A recently announced acquisition by California-based water handling company Heckmann Corp. is intended to expand the range of water and wastewater services available to producers in the Haynesville Shale in East Texas, and there are plans to take the business to other shale plays.

Thanks to its acquisition of Dominion’s natural gas exploration and production business, longtime coal giant Consol Energy is making its name in the natural gas sector as the Canonsburg, PA-based diversified energy producer continues to analyze its position in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

Thanks to its acquisition of Dominion’s natural gas exploration and production business, longtime coal giant Consol Energy is making its name in the natural gas sector as the Canonsburg, PA-based diversified energy producer continues to analyze its position in the Marcellus and Utica shales.

In the article “Slim Chance of Severance Tax in Pennsylvania” (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10), NGI incorrectly named the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor. His name is Tom Corbett. NGI regrets the error.

The acrimony between Texas and the federal government — over oil spill and air emissions regulations, to name but two points of friction — continued Tuesday at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

Following Monday’s explosion to $6, profit taking was the name of the game on expiration Tuesday as the January natural gas futures contract slumped to terminate at $5.814, down 17.6 cents. February futures slid 15.6 cents to $5.840.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has added her name as co-sponsor to legislation that seeks to extend and expand federal tax credits for natural gas vehicles (NGV) and refueling facilities.

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.