Private

Two West Coast utilities — one private- and the other public-sector — are leading the nation in offering green power programs to retail customers, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Portland General Electric (PGE) in Oregon has more renewable energy customers than any utility in the nation, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) indicated in national rankings released Tuesday. At the end of 2010, PGE had nearly 78,000 residential and business customers, or 12.6% of its eligible customers, enrolled in a renewable power program, well ahead of the national average of 2%. Portland, OR-based PGE led the nation in renewable sales in 2010 for the sixth consecutive year. In California the Santa Clara municipal utility, Silicon Valley Power, is in the top 10 nationally with its green power program, drawing more than 100 businesses and nearly 4,000 homes to the program, NREL’s report confirmed. Silicon Valley sold more than 70,000 MWh of green-based power last year.

Activity in the Delaware Basin of West Texas-southeastern New Mexico — specifically the Avalon and Wolfcamp shales and Bone Spring formation — has heated up enough for Nuevo Midstream LLC to take its gas processing plant near Orla, TX, out of mothballs.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ordered a local gas driller to stop operations after discovering natural gas and other contaminants in nearby private water supplies.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ordered a local gas driller to stop operations after discovering natural gas and other contaminants in nearby private water supplies.

With the nation’s most ambitious renewable energy program, California’s three major private-sector utilities reported progress but still fell short of the state’s 20% 2010 goal, according to a report from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Each utility made progress from their positions a year earlier. Southern California Edison Co. reported 19.4% of their power coming from renewable sources, compared to 17.4% at the end of 2009; Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported 17.7% compared with 14.4% in 2009; and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. reported 11.9% compared with 10.5% in 2009. Collectively the utilities averaged 18% of their power coming from renewable sources in 2010, compared with 15% a year earlier. Under the state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) program, the CPUC has established flexible compliance rules that allow the utilities to bank excess renewable energy and defer deficits in any year for up to three years when using what the regulators call an “allowance justification.” The CPUC estimates that aggregate utility RPS total will reach 20% before the end of 2012.

A moratorium on Marcellus Shale permits could be back on the table in Maryland.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) said Tuesday it has acquired Barnett Shale properties from ConocoPhillips. The deal is the latest in the private equity giant’s march into North American gas shale plays.

Natural gas futures retreated Monday as traders quickly reacted to reports of some moderation in private weather forecasts while others attributed the magnitude of the decline to computer-driven sell orders. At the close February natural gas fell 15.6 cents to $4.580 and March retreated 14.5 cents to $4.598. March crude oil lost $1.24 to $87.87/bbl.

Chief Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Chief Oil & Gas, has been fined $34,000 and has agreed to surrender a discharge permit for operations in four counties in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale area after “illegally discharging hydrostatic testing water at a pipeline project” in Lycoming County, PA, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said.