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FERC issued an interim final rule Wednesday [RM-16-16] increasing maximum civil penalties for violations of federal statutes under its jurisdiction.

FERC commissioners voted Thursday to initiate Natural Gas Act Section 5 investigations of the rates charged by four interstate natural gas pipelines to determine if they are “substantially over-recovering their costs, resulting in unjust and unreasonable rates.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a stay on a rule in its Clean Power Plan (CPP) pertaining to power generation, on the grounds that it would harm how the state handles electricity and would lead to higher costs and reliability concerns.

Fifteen states — led by West Virginia and including several oil and gas heavyweights — have filed an emergency petition in federal court, urging it to postpone the deadlines set forth earlier this month by the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP).

A section of Williams’ Leidy Line, which delivers Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco), ruptured late Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of more than 100 nearby residents.

A section of Williams' Leidy Line, which delivers Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania to the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco), ruptured late Tuesday, prompting the evacuation of more than 100 nearby residents.

After decades of attempts to commercialize its vast North Slope natural gas reserves, Alaska is on the cusp of years more work. But now, producer, pipeline and state interests are aligned; there’s a mandate from lawmakers to get a project done; and a real plan has begun to take shape.

Just days after a seventh justice was sworn in to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) on Tuesday submitted a request that the high court reconsider its decision to quash an appeal by the commission regarding enforcement of Act 13, the state’s omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

CN, Canada’s national railway, said it plans to accelerate work on a US$33 million project to upgrade a 74-mile section of the Whitehall Subdivision line in Wisconsin. The upgrade between the towns of Wisconsin Rapids and Blair would allow increased car-loading capacity and train velocity for hydraulic fracture (frack) sand suppliers Badger Mining Corp., Preferred Sands of Wisconsin LLC, Atlas Resin Proppants LLC and Taylor Frac LLC. After the upgrade, CN would be able to transport heavier freight cars loaded with frack sand, up to a maximum of 286,000 pounds. CN, which began the work in 2012, plans to complete the project by December 2014, a year ahead of time.