Infrastructure

For the first time ever, the average capacity factor of natural gas combined-cycle power plants in the United States exceeded that of coal steam plants in 2015, according to a note published Monday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

With the closure of a major natural gas storage field, Southern California faces potential gas curtailments leading to perhaps as many as 14 days of rolling power outages this summer, a draft report from state energy officials said Tuesday.

California air quality regulators have issued a proposed climate impacts mitigation program to counteract the climate change setback from the four-month Aliso Canyon natural gas storage well leak. Aliso operator Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) now finds itself at odds with stakeholders and news media alike.

Denver-based DCP Midstream LLC, the largest natural gas processor in the country, has reduced its workforce by 10% and slashed capital spending for 2016.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot) has awarded a 20-year, $84.5 million contract to Trillium CNG and two other companies that would significantly expand the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) for both public transit agencies and the public.

Mountaineer Gas Co. has asked West Virginia regulators to reopen and amend its five-year infrastructure replacement and expansion program (IREP) so the company can include — and ultimately expedite recovery costs for — a $45 million project to build 56.4 miles of new distribution lines in the state’s Eastern Panhandle.

The first of two new cargo ships destined for Mediterranean trade has been outfitted with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine, Crowley Maritime Corp. said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said 41 companies involved in the energy sector, including several natural gas pipeline operators, have joined a voluntary program to detect methane leaks from a variety of sources in the field, and will implement a list of best management practices within five years.

A proposed700 MW natural gas-fired facility near Beloit, WI, has received verbal approval from Wisconsin regulators, backer Alliant Energy Corp. said Thursday.