Terrorist

Even with the “full plate” of terrorist-related issues, appropriations bills and concerns about the economy before the Senate now, it should be able to act on the White House’s latest intended nominee for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Joseph T. Kelliher, before it adjourns for the year, a Senate committee press aide said. At the same time, the administration’s choice of Kelliher, a senior policy advisor at the Department of Energy (DOE), received high marks on Capitol Hill and from the energy industry last week.

Amid concerns over potential terrorist attacks on energy facilities, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is limiting the public’s access to maps of natural gas pipelines and electric transmission lines.

Even with the “full plate” of terrorist-related issues, appropriations bills and concerns about the economy confronting the Senate now, it should be able to act on the White House’s latest intended nominee for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Joseph T. Kelliher, before it adjourns for the year, a Senate committee press aide said. At the same time, the administration’s choice of Kelliher, a senior policy advisor at the Department of Energy, for FERC received high marks on Capitol Hill and from the energy industry.

Amid concerns over potential terrorist attacks on energy facilities, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is limiting the public’s access to maps of natural gas pipelines and electric transmission lines.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the list of threats and vulnerabilities to the nation’s energy infrastructure is “a lot longer now,” said Robbie Gillham, manager of global security for Conoco Inc. At the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission’s (IOGCC) panel discussion, the topic of the day focused mainly on the role states must play in maintaining, protecting and encouraging domestic oil and natural gas production during a crisis.

The sharp downturn in the economy since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks caused a significant reassessment of quarterly and annual earnings expectations among energy companies last week. AES had the worst news with expectations of dramatically lower earnings because of its currency exposure in Brazil, changes in the power market in the United Kingdom and events affecting some of its domestic operations. Exelon also will suffer and will reduce its work force by another 450 jobs. Meanwhile, Duke Energy, PPL, NRG and Entergy all reaffirmed their earnings expectations.

It appears that a comprehensive Senate energy bill may be the latest casualty of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Nine Republican members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee have called on Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) to scale back the legislation to focus on those energy measures that enjoy bipartisan support and can be easily passed during this session.

In a report issued just one day after the U.S. terrorist attacks, the General Accounting Office (GAO) offered testimony before the Senate’s Committee on Governmental Affairs that poor information security on interconnected computer systems to support federal and private operations and infrastructures — including the energy industry — “could have potentially devastating implications for our country.” GAO found that federal computer systems are “riddled with weaknesses that continue to put critical operations and assets at risk.”

While energy analysts remain shell-shocked following the brazen terrorist attacks of last week and admit they have “no answers” for industry, some predict that the war-provoking events may cause the public, Capitol Hill lawmakers and investors to look more favorably upon North American energy producers, service companies and pipelines.