Sign

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday signed three greenhouse gas (GHG) measures into law and his press spokespeople confirmed that he plans to sign a fourth measure Wednesday — the state’s historic “Global Warming Solutions Act” (AB 32). Schwarzenegger signed SB 107, AB 1925, and SB 1686 that deal with renewable goals, industrial carbon capturing, and forest management to reduce GHG emissions, respectively.

With no sign of bullish fundamentals anywhere to be found, October natural gas futures pushed lower again Friday to close at $4.627, down 15.4 cents on the day and 35.5 cents lower for the week.

In a sign of the times, a descendant of a renowned Canadian native statesman has become the first aboriginal member of the National Energy Board. Strater Crowfoot — a former Siksika (Blackfoot) chief whose great-great grandfather, Chief Crowfoot, a Canadian counterpart to Sitting Bull in the American West, led high plains tribes of hunters and warriors to open southern Alberta for peaceful settlement by signing Treaty 7 in 1877 — joined the NEB this month.

In a sign of the times, a descendant of a renowned Canadian native statesman has become the first aboriginal member of the National Energy Board. After eight years of battles that repeatedly slowed down Canada’s northern natural gas pipeline project and amid signs the conflicts are spreading, aboriginal relations are emerging as a government and industry priority. Strater Crowfoot — a former Siksika (Blackfoot) chief whose great-great grandfather, Chief Crowfoot, a Canadian counterpart to Sitting Bull in the American West, led high plains tribes of hunters and warriors to open southern Alberta for peaceful settlement by signing Treaty 7 in 1877 — joined the NEB this month.

FERC is being asked to quickly sign off on a proposal that could allow for the return to service of two 265 MW power plants in New England prior to the dog days of this summer. The plants, which are located in Rhode Island and Maine, have been operated by indirect subsidiaries of bankrupt Calpine Corp.

Outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton was expected to sign a memorandum Wednesday that could open the door for states and local governments to assert rights-of-way (ROW) claims to thousands of miles of roads on public lands in the West, a move that environmentalists claim could lead to development of wildlife refuges, public parks and federal lands.

As a sign of some stabilization of a declining Jackson Prairie storage account balance, Northwest revised its Unauthorized Overrun Entitlement (see Daily GPI, Dec. 9) from a Stage I (at 3% imbalance tolerance) to a Stage III (13%) until further notice Monday. The entitlement affects all Receiving Party customers north of the Kemmerer (WY) Compressor Station. “To avoid penalties and a potential OFO through the Green River and Kemmerer Compressor Stations, Northwest requests your immediate cooperation and assistance to stay within your scheduled volumes by bringing on additional supplies north of Kemmerer,” the pipeline told customers, adding that it appreciated their quick response to its request to pay back imbalances owed to Northwest north of Kemmerer this past week. Customers who still owe gas to Northwest north of Kemmerer were encouraged to make payback arrangements as soon as possible. A suspension of Northwest deliveries to a CIG interconnect due to a line rupture late last week about 22 miles south of the Green River Compressor Station (see Daily GPI, Dec. 9) remained in effect Monday with no prognosis for restoration of service provided.

The heads of FERC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are due to sign a memorandum of understanding Wednesday in which they will pledge to coordinate requests to companies when seeking information about regulated natural gas and electric transactions, a FERC spokesman said.

Seven lines of text added by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to the Transportation Authorization Bill, which President Bush is expected to sign on Wednesday, could spell doom for the proposed Weaver’s Cove LNG import terminal in Fall River, MA.