Wednesday

Century Midstream LLC, whose focus primarily will be to develop and expand emerging liquids plays across North America, was launched Wednesday by private equity energy firm First Reserve Corp. and a team of seasoned midstream veterans.

Under its statewide program dispersing more than $100 million annually, the California Energy Commission (CEC) Wednesday directed more than $44 million to boost the alternative transportation fuel sector. It included $18 million to expand hydrogen fueling for future fuel cell transportation and another $4.8 million for 19 natural gas and propane transportation projects.

Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday approved legislation that would expand offshore energy production to include the East and West Coasts, and would extend revenue-sharing to all coastal states.

In the context of opening a United Nations (UN) environmental event in his city Wednesday, Portland, OR, Mayor Charlie Hales called for several Oregon state investment funds to purge themselves of holdings in fossil fuel companies. The state’s largest city already has taken that step, Hales said.

Safety staff at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Wednesday reiterated their rationale for a proposed $2.25 billion penalty against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in a reply to the utility’s recent filing in the CPUC penalty consideration cases arising out of a natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion in San Bruno, south of San Francisco (see Daily GPI, May 7).

The chief executives of Canada’s five biggest pipeline companies lined up Wednesday to vow to elevate safety to a top priority.

The mayor of San Bruno, CA — where a natural gas transmission pipeline rupture and explosion killed eight nearly three years ago — on Wednesday called for the California Attorney General’s Office and state lawmakers to investigate replacement of the state regulatory legal team investigating the event.

Jon Wellinghoff, whose term as FERC Chairman is due to expire June 30, has submitted a letter of resignation to President Obama, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Jon Wellinghoff, whose term as FERC Chairman is due to expire June 30, has submitted a letter of resignation to President Obama, a spokesman said Wednesday.