Sacramento

A round of public forums on California’s discussion draft regulations on hydraulic fracturing have begun in Los Angeles and will continue with a second workshop scheduled to be held March 13 in Bakersfield, CA, by the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. Jason Marshall, chief deputy director of the state’s Department of Conservation, said “interesting and helpful comments” were obtained at the Los Angeles session Feb. 19. Marshall said the goal is have new regulations in place in the next 12-18 months. In the upcoming workshop, the discussion draft rules will be broken into seven parts, with four parts discussed in morning sessions and three in the afternoon. The final session will allow for public comments and questions. A third workshop will be held in Sacramento later this year.

Shale-inspired historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called “this rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

Historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called a “rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

Shale-inspired historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called “this rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

There were no major surprises from a six-hour California Senate joint committee hearing in Sacramento Tuesday, reviewing the aftermath of the natural gas transmission pipeline explosion that took eight lives, destroyed a quiet suburban neighborhood and forced the glare of public scrutiny on Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) and the state regulators overseeing its operations.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) was awarded a “green leadership” award at a state environmental summit and exposition in Sacramento Tuesday, calling out both private- and public-sector research and development grants under the CEC’s $83.5 million annual Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) was awarded a “green leadership” award at a state environmental summit and exposition in Sacramento Tuesday, calling out both private- and public-sector research and development grants under the CEC’s $83.5 million annual Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program.

The natural gas financing unit for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) received a credit rating upgrade (“AA-” from “A+”) from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) Thursday covering more than $750 million in fixed- and indexed-rate bonds. S&P set the outlook at “stable” for the Northern California Gas Authority, a special purpose vehicle for financing long-term gas purchases for SMUD’s power generation needs. The gas authority was created to issue bonds, the proceeds of which fund prepayment for 146 Bcf of gas scheduled for delivery over the next 20 years. The authority sells the gas supplies to SMUD at first-of-the-month index price, minus a predetermined discount. In turn, the gas authority’s floating index-based revenues from SMUD are exchanged through a commodity swap with the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for fixed amounts needed to pay interest and principal on the bonds. S&P said the upgrade reflects a July 30 upgrade of Morgan Stanley (AA-/Stable/A-1+), which guarantees the obligation of the gas authority’s supplier, Morgan Stanley Capital Group. Two other counterparties to the deals figured in the ratings change, S&P said: Royal Bank of Canada (RBC: AA-/Positive/A-1+) and MBIA Insurance Corp. (AAA/Stable). “The outlook could be revised to negative if the outlook on Morgan Stanley or the Canadian bank is revised to negative, and the ratings could be lowered if the ratings on Morgan Stanley, RBC, or MBIA are lowered to below ‘AA-‘,” said S&P analyst Kenneth Farer.

Showing the first signs of interest in energy after five weeks back in session in Sacramento, the chairman of California’s lower house Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee Thursday announced that he and two major environmental groups plan to use Valentine’s Day to promote a new state law designed to boost energy conservation. Presumably it will attempt to marshal public sector utilities, as well as private sector ones, in a stepped up effort.