Regulators

Regulators in Alberta said the province would remove most subsurface well density controls for coalbed methane (CBM) and shale gas, one of several changes announced Thursday for well spacing for conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells.

Citing its job-creation benefits, California Gov. Jerry Brown Monday asked state regulators to restore programs set to expire at the end of this year because state lawmakers failed to pass bills aimed a extending a public goods charge on private-sector utility customer bills.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Tuesday it is reorganizing, a move designed to assist regulators with a burgeoning workload from the state’s booming oil and gas industry in the Marcellus Shale.

Nevada’s historically separate electric utilities will ask state regulators before the end of this year to legally merge after operating under the same name, NV Energy, for several years, CEO Michael Yackira said at last week’s Barclays Capital CEO Energy-Power Conference in New York City. The NV Energy utilities historically operated as Las Vegas-based Nevada Power Co. in the south and Reno-based Sierra Pacific Power Co. in the north, and have remained physically separate, but that will end next year when the two are physically connected by the high-voltage transmission ON Line, a joint venture of the Nevada utilities and LS Power (see Power Market Today, Aug. 24, 2010). Even though the two utilities merged operations three years ago, they have remained legally separate entities and each has had to make separate regular filings to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which has caused some inefficiencies that Yackira said would be removed if the PUC approves the legal merger.

In response to new state legislation (SB 412), California regulators on Thursday revised the state’s incentive program for on-site power generation, allowing up to 25% of the awards to go to nonrenewable combined heat and power (CHP) self generation that includes natural gas-fired cogeneration.

Tens of thousands of new jobs would be created in the Empire State if regulators decide to allow shale development, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reported in the final draft of its report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of new jobs would be created in the Empire State if regulators decide to allow shale development, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reported in the final draft of its report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on Wednesday.

Idaho regulators have scheduled a hearing for Sept. 13 to take public comments on a settlement that would result in a net rate decrease for Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities’ natural gas and electric retail utility customers in northern Idaho. In July Avista applied for gas and power rate increases averaging 2.7% and 3.7%, respectively, but the proposed settlement would allow much smaller average increases of 1.6% and 1.1%, effective Oct. 1. With several other rate adjustments for the combination utility, customers face the prospect of overall decreases of about 1% for gas and 2.4% for electricity. In addition, as part of the deal Avista would not seek another increase in base rates from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) before April 1, 2013. The three PUC commissioners will conduct a combination public and technical hearing Sept. 13 in Coeur d’Alene, ID.

Idaho regulators are anticipating making further decreases in the retail charges for natural gas in the state as they currently circulate for public comments a filing by Intermountain Gas Co. to cut retail charges by 5.3%, effective Oct. 1.