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.
Result
Articles from Result
Chesapeake to Royalty Owners: The Haircut Is in the Mail
The monthly check from Chesapeake Exploration LLC will still be in the mail to Barnett Shale royalty owners, but some of them will find it to be a little lighter than in the past.
Industry Brief
California’s first legislative attempt (AB 591) to address hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will be placed in the state Senate Appropriation Committee’s suspense file when the legislature returns from its summer recess. It is then to be voted on closer to the end of the legislative session in an appropriations panel meeting. The bill is aimed at chemical disclosure of fracking chemicals. The bill’s author, Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, said “several reports” from the oil and gas industry suggest that California is on the “cusp of a boom” in unconventional oil and gas recovery. Chemicals used and sources and amounts of water in the fracking process would be disclosed as a result of AB 591, Wieckowski said.
Hess: Initial Rates ‘Encouraging’ in Bakken, Eagle Ford
Setbacks in several production regions, including the Bakken Shale, resulted in an overall decline in Hess Corp.’s 2Q2011 daily output, but those setbacks were mostly short-term, and the company was able to post a 62% earnings increase compared with 2Q2010.
Tennessee Gets Go-Ahead to Redefine Pooling for Shale
FERC has approved Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s proposed changes to its pooling points to accommodate greater natural gas supplies coming from the Marcellus and Haynesville shale formations and the Rocky Mountain region.
GasMart 2011: Shale Gas ‘Under Siege,’ Says Former Regulator
The shale natural gas industry is “under siege” by some critics and without the public’s support, access to the massive reserves also could be diminished, an industry executive said Wednesday.
Kinder Buying Petrohawk’s Half of Haynesville JV
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) is buying Petrohawk Energy Corp.’s half of the companies’ Haynesville Shale midstream joint venture, KinderHawk Field Services, and also acquiring a 25% interest in Petrohawk’s gas gathering and treating business in the Eagle Ford Shale, the companies said.
Cabot Grows Production But Profits Fall
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw profits shrink but production rise in the first quarter compared to the year-ago period, the result of low natural gas prices combined with expansion of operations in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales.
Cabot Grows Production But Profits Fall
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw profits shrink but production rise in the first quarter compared to the year-ago period, the result of low natural gas prices combined with expansion of operations in the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales.
Texas Clears Range of Fouling Water Wells
Range Resources Corp. Tuesday was cleared of fouling North Texas water wells with natural gas by a unanimous vote of the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). It was vindication for the Fort Worth, TX-based producer and an informal indictment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — not that anyone from the federal agency was at the meeting in Austin, TX, to hear it.
