Senate

The permits necessary for Equitrans Midstream Corp.’s long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to advance may come as early as May, allowing the company to bring the project in-service by 2023, CEO Thomas Karam announced.  EQM is expecting the biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by next Tuesday, “and based on the permitting…

Russian aggression toward Ukraine continued to stress European alliances and global natural gas prices Friday following the defeat of sanctions for the 5.3 Bcf/d Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline in the Senate. The sanctions – brought by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Thursday night as part of a deal with Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New…

Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia Chairman Willie L. Phillips will officially serve as the next FERC commissioner after the Senate confirmed his nomination late Tuesday. Phillips, nominated by President Biden in September, will fill the seat vacated by former Commissioner Neil Chatterjee for a term expiring June 30, 2026. Chatterjee, a former…

The chief executive of the pipeline operator that was temporarily crippled by a ransomware attack last month apologized to Americans. During testimony before a Senate panel on Tuesday, he acknowledged that Colonial Pipeline was susceptible to hackers and that it is still grappling with challenges caused by the infiltration. “We are deeply sorry for the…

The Senate and Natural Resources Committee voted Wednesday to advance the nomination of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to the full Senate, where she’s expected to be confirmed as the Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE).  Granholm signaled in written responses to the committee ahead of her confirmation hearing last week that she wouldn’t…

FERC is set to return to a full complement of five commissioners following a Senate voice vote late Monday to confirm the nominations of Republican Mark Christie and Democrat Allison Clements. Christie, who’s been serving as chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, was confirmed to a term that ends in 2025. Clements, a policy…

The Senate voted 52-40 Thursday to confirm James Danly to be a member of the chronically short-handed FERC.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Dan Brouillette to become Secretary of Energy in a mostly bipartisan 70-15 vote late Monday.

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Tuesday voted through to the full Senate three Trump administration nominations for key roles in energy related departments.