utilities

Natural gas is a long-term player and not a transitional fuel for the eight states in which Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. operates, CEO Linn Evans said Tuesday. During a 3Q2020 earnings call, Evans said he was not expecting any local lockdowns in the utility service areas, with the worst of the Covid-19 impacts…

Fresh out of bankruptcy reorganization, PG&E Corp. and combination utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) expect to have a new executive team in place by the end of this year, management said Thursday. Interim CEO Bill Smith discussed the restructuring process and responses to recent wildfires in Northern California during a 3Q2020 earnings conference…

A Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) power line may have been involved in the start of a wildfire raging in a foothills portion of Orange County, officials at parent company Edison International (EI) said Tuesday. SCE earlier this week told state regulators the 11,000-acre Silverado Fire in Orange County was 5% contained, and there “was…

Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp. (SWGas) continues to see its business units expand and expects that trend to continue, CEO John Hester said earlier this month. Covid-19 “is our No. 1 concern,” Hester said during the second quarter conference call. “We’re closely monitoring the impact on SWGas operations.” Demand to date is strong for services…

California’s investor-owned utilities (IOU), whose infrastructure has caused numerous major wildfires in recent years, are prepared for this year’s fire season, including how planned power outages should limit customer impact, executives told regulators. As two fires were raging in Southern California, utility executives in separate hearings over the past week said infrastructure had been hardened…

With 1.8 million natural gas customers across Alabama, Mississippi and Missouri, Spire Inc. announced that it is committing to reduce methane emissions by 53% by 2025 and become carbon neutral by 2050.  The St. Louis-based company said it is one of the first natural gas companies in the country to take the carbon neutral pledge.…

The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on Wednesday announced a final rule updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, a controversial move designed to limit reviews of proposed infrastructure projects, including natural gas and oil pipelines. The final rule would modernize environmental reviews, streamline infrastructure approvals and “reverse years of burdensome overregulation…

Though months have passed since the coronavirus pandemic first began to impact individuals and communities across the United States, many organizations have proven their determination by continuing to assist however they can. While many countries are emerging from lockdowns and showing signs of recovery, Royal Dutch Shell plc continues to assist in the global fight…

As areas of the United States begin transitioning to another new normal by slowly reopening to recover from Covid-19, some natural gas utilities are also shifting their pandemic policies and attempting to help their customers along the way.  National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) President Brandon Presley has established a task force to focus…