Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) plans to eliminate nearly one-third of the staff at its troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Pacific Coast in the northern-most end of San Diego County, CA. The staff reductions had already been articulated in SCE’s pending general rate case, but with the two 2,200 MW Songs units out of service since January, the move is sure to spark more speculation about the long-term future of the plant. Both units have turned up excessive wear in part of the tubing on newly installed steam generators on both units (see Daily GPI, Feb. 7). The length of the outage has caused a re-emphasis on natural gas-fired generation in a state, which already relies on gas-fired power for the bulk of its in-state generation (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14). As part of the explanation for the staff reduction to 1,500 from the current levels above 2,100 positions, a utility spokesperson said the Songs steam generator issues “require SCE be prudent with its future spending while [the utility] and regulators review the long-term viability of the nuclear plant. The reality is that the Unit 3 reactor will not be operating for some time.”
Southern
Articles from Southern
ATP Cites Macondo Blowout, Moratorium in Bankruptcy Filing
ATP Oil & Gas Corp. on Friday said it has filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas “to undertake a comprehensive financial restructuring.”
Plains Crude Handling Projects Target Texas, Colorado
Plains All American Pipeline LP is wrapping up more than 145 miles of crude oil pipeline projects that are expected to add 200,000 b/d of takeaway capacity from the Bone Spring, Spraberry and Wolfberry producing areas in nine West Texas counties.
Noble Sheds Liquids-Weighted Permian Assets
Noble Energy Inc. is selling oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin to privately held Sheridan Holding Co. II LLC of Houston for $320 million as part of an ongoing divestiture plan, the company said Tuesday.
Armada Accelerating Niobrara Oil Exploration
Armada Oil Inc. has signed a geophysical data acquisition agreement with Geokinetics USA Inc. to conduct seismic testing on land in the Niobrara and Casper formations in southern Wyoming, the Houston-based independent oil and gas company said.
People
Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has named Dennis Arriola as president and COO to fill the vacancy created when Anne Shen-Smith was named chair and CEO. SoCalGas Chairman and CEO Michael Allman resigned in June. Arriola returns after spending 14 years at the company and at Sempra; most recently he was CFO of San Jose, CA-based SunPower Corp. Between 1994-2008 Arriola had a variety of leadership positions at SoCalGas and related companies, the last as CFO of SoCalGas and Sempra’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. Arriola has an MBA from Harvard and an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford.
Industry Briefs
Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) and Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) said ETE plans to drop down its interest in Southern Union Co. (SUG) into an ETP-controlled entity that will also include assets to be acquired in the merger of Sunoco Inc. (SUN) and ETP (see Daily GPI, May 11). Concurrent with the closing of the Sunoco merger, ETE will contribute its interest in SUG into an ETP-controlled entity in exchange for a 60% equity interest in the new entity, to be called ETP Holdco Corp. (Holdco). ETP will contribute its interest in Sunoco to Holdco and will retain a 40% equity interest in Holdco. Prior to the contribution of Sunoco to Holdco, Sunoco’s interests in Sunoco Logistics Partners LP will be transferred to ETP. “Through this transaction, we resolve the timing of ETE’s drop down of the SUG assets, without the need for external equity or debt financing, and will enhance distribution growth prospects at both ETE and ETP,” said ETE Chairman Kelcy Warren. ETE said it has reviewed its plans with all three credit rating agencies and believes that the new structure enhances the overall credit profile of ETE, ETP and SUG, and furthers ETP’s commitment to maintaining investment grade credit ratings.
Summer Gas for Power Up as California Nuke Stays Shut
Quelling previous optimism for at least a partial return of its idled nuclear generating plant this summer, Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) officials Thursday said the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs), which has been shut down since January for repairs of flawed tubing, will not resume operations this summer. As a result, more natural gas-fired generation from old coastal plants and other measures will take up the slack.
People
Sempra Energy’s board has appointed Anne Shen Smith president and CEO of Sempra’s Southern California Gas Co. utility. She replaces Michael Allman, who resigned and is leaving the company. Smith has served as the utility’s COO since 2010. She joined the company as a operations research analyst and for the past 21 years has had various executive roles with SoCalGas and Sempra.
California Firms Feuding Over Proposed Compression Fuel Services
Traditional allies find themselves knocking heads at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) over a proposal by Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility to establish a special compression tariff and services for natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling stations. Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is alleging that the SoCalGas plan is anti-competitive.
