The co-chairs of a West Virginia panel trying to reach a consensus on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform testified Monday that they believe compromise legislation is within reach and could be enacted in the near future.
Testified
Articles from Testified
Few Happy with Proposed DRBC Regulations
The hundreds of people testifying Tuesday on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s proposed regulations for Marcellus Shale development agreed that the regulations won’t work, but the agreement ended there.
Industry Briefs
The CFO of Oklahoma City-based OGE Energy Corp. testified that a rate-cut proposal submitted by the staff of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) would impair the company’s ability to respond to power outages, especially following storms. James R. Hatfield also said the cuts, ranging between $43.2 million to more than $90 million, would certainly affect the reliability of its utility, OG&E, because of layoffs and other reductions it would have to make. Hatfield instead urged the OCC to consider OG&E Electric Services’ $26 million annual rate increase for new upgrades to the state’ electric system, damaged by catastrophic storms and increasing power loads. Reductions proposed by the OCC would require OG&E to drastically cut its operating budget, which could include eliminating overtime. Without overtime, Hatfield said that storm responses would undoubtedly be slower, while deferring preventive maintenance items, such as tree trimming and line inspections, would also compromise system reliability. With the testimony deadline passed, the rate case will be heard before an administrative law judge on Sept. 24, and a report will be issued by Oct.14. Appeals of the judge’s ruling will then be due Oct. 24, and the case will come before the OCC again on Nov. 20. OG&E serves more than 700,000 customers in a 30,000 square mile area of Oklahoma and western Arkansas.