Sound

Washington state regulators last Thursday approved an overall 16% decrease in retail natural gas utility rates of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) attributed to the continued slide in wholesale gas prices. The lower rates become effective this Thursday, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) said, adding that at the same time a small electric increase will take effect.

The proposed American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, better known as the Waxman-Markey climate bill, is economically sound and may have benefits worth twice as much as the cost to implement it, an analysis has found.

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) filed with Washington state regulators Monday to lower its overall retail natural gas rates 17.1% this winter — the second gas rate decrease this year. The latest decrease would be effective Oct. 1, and it follows a 1.8% drop in gas charges that went into effect June 1.

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) late Friday asked Washington state regulators to cut its retail natural gas utility rates 12.5% overall and 16.4% for residential customers, effective June 1. Separately, the Puget Energy combination utility also asked the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) to begin an 11-month review of what PSE called moderate general rate hikes collectively totaling $175.2 million for its gas and electric utility customers.

TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle said Friday he didn’t want to sound pessimistic about the reserves potential of the ballyhooed North American natural gas shales. “But in the grand scheme of things,” he said, “they’re just one more source of supply.”

TransCanada Corp. CEO Hal Kvisle said Friday he didn’t want to sound pessimistic about the reserves potential of the ballyhooed North American natural gas shales. “But in the grand scheme of things,” he said, “they’re just one more source of supply.”

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Kings County, WA, and landfill gas specialist Bio Energy-Washington have joined forces on a project to use super-clean landfill gas to produce 35 MW in PSE’s existing gas-fired generation plants. They expect to produce up to 5.5 MMcf/d of “green” methane from the landfill.

Although the official start of spring is less than two weeks away, Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) said Wednesday it has set new one-day sendout records for natural gas and electricity in March. The Puget Energy utility said a beneficial side effect is that the added gas demand from customers is giving the utility a chance to fill up its storage reservoir with more low-priced supplies that are now available.

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) went private Friday with the closing of the $7.4 billion transaction between the combination utility’s holding company, Puget Energy, and a consortium of private investor groups led by a North American unit of Australia-based Macquarie. All of the issued and outstanding PSE common shares were purchased for $30/share.