Station

Chevron U.S.A. Inc.’s lease with a Marcellus Shale landowner in Fayette County, PA, allows the producer to construct an 11-acre freshwater impoundment to assist in drilling for natural gas, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

The minority 20% share in the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) lessens the overall costs and operational impact, but Sempra Energy and its San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) combination utility will deal with material consequences of the decision, according to officials.

Constitution Pipeline Co. LLC, fully subscribed to carry at least 650,000 Dth/d of natural gas from northern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale to Northeast markets, on Friday gained a new investor.

A Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) compressor station in Dallas County, AL, has been given the green light by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin service, adding 130,000 Dth/d of capacity to the pipeline system [Docket No. CP11-18-000]. The compressor is the second phase of the Mid-South Expansion Project, approved in 2011, to expand Transco services in the Southeast after the first phase went into service in 2012 (see NGI, Sept. 3, 2012). The expansion, originally was designed to service LaGrange, GA, Progress Energy Carolinas and Southern Co., gives Transco an additional total firm capacity of 225,000 Dth/d.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and others are politicizing the almost 18-month shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Southern California, Edison International CEO Ted Craver said Wednesday. The “favorable economics” for restarting the 2,200 MW plant are diminishing with the passage of time and no action by federal regulators, he told financial analysts in New York City.

There will be no quick remedy for restarting one of the units at idled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Southern California following a recent decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) that a public hearing will be required on a request from SONGS’s operator Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) to partially restart Unit 2. This follows utility warnings that without a restart this year of the one unit, a decision may have to be made by the end of this year on whether SONGS will be retired (see Daily GPI, May 2). There is now a 25-day period for appeal of the board’s decision. As the largest baseload source of electric generation in Southern California with 2,200 MW, the loss of SONGS would require other types of generation, including more natural gas-fired capacity and various efficiency programs, particularly in the summer (see Daily GPI, March 26; Feb. 28). SCE, which is the majority owner/operator of SONGS, had been hoping to obtain swift approval to restart at 70% capacity Unit 2. Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. owns 20% of SONGS and a Riverside, CA, municipal utility holds about 3%.

A decision about whether to retire the still idle San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Southern California could come by the end of this year, the CEO of Edison International, the majority owner/operator, said Tuesday.

A flash fire Thursday evening at a pig receiving station in Tyler County, WV, injured three people and forced Eureka Hunter Pipeline to shut in a portion of its pipeline system in the area, according to parent Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.

The top executives that own and operate the idle San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) in Southern California indicated in separate conference calls on Tuesday that the plant’s fate remains uncertain, along with the 2,200 MW associated with it, which puts uncertainty into the state’s summer energy plans.