Panel

Expedited permitting to carry out repairs on natural gas pipelines is the biggest challenge facing pipe operators as they try to comply with the Office of Pipeline Safety’s (OPS) integrity management rule, an industry official representing gas distributors and municipal utilities told Senate lawmakers Tuesday.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) last Thursday was approved by unanimous consent as the new chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, succeeding Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA) who relinquished the top spot in mid-February.

As was widely expected, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) on Thursday was approved by unanimous consent as the new chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. He replaces Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA), who gave up the position earlier this month.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) was on course to become the new chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee late Wednesday, succeeding Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin (R-LA), who stepped down from the position earlier this month, Capitol Hill aides said.

As the broad energy bill (HR 6) hangs in the balance in the Senate, representatives of the struggling steel, agriculture and paper industries told a House subcommittee last week that they need fast relief from high natural gas prices. Assurances of lower prices 10 or more years down the road, when liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and Alaska gas are projected to play a bigger role in the U.S. supply mix, don’t help them now, they said.

California’s two major energy agencies told a state Senate Utilities and Communications Committee last week (Feb. 10) in Sacramento that additional “energy action” is needed this year to keep the state on its current track of restoring the major energy utilities to full financial strength and increasing the electricity and natural gas systems’ reliability for the future beyond 2006.

A panel of top utility executives agreed Thursday that the U.S. power industry is less risky than it was five years ago, but still unsure which direction the market is headed because of the conflicting signals from regulators, customers and forecasts. Edison International’s CEO meanwhile offered a dire outlook for California, suggesting that the state is only in the calm before another huge storm.

As the broad energy bill (HR 6) hangs in the balance in the Senate, representatives of the struggling steel, agriculture and paper industries told a House subcommittee that they need fast relief from high natural gas prices. Assurances of lower prices 10 or more years down the road, when liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and Alaska gas are projected to play a bigger role in the U.S. supply mix, won’t do, they said.

California’s two major energy agencies assured a state Senate Utilities and Communications Committee Tuesday in Sacramento that additional “energy action” is needed this year to keep the state on its current track of restoring the major energy utilities to full financial strength and increasing the reliability of the electricity and natural gas systems in the future beyond 2006.