Infrastructure

House lawmakers blasted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for failing to implement all sections of a pipeline safety law enacted in 2011. They said two recent oil spills in California and Illinois illustrate the urgency the agency faces for enacting the remaining parts of the law.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has voted unanimously to approve distribution system improvement charges (DSIC) that would allow two UGI Corp. subsidiaries to recover costs from customers under their long-term infrastructure improvement plans.

In a deal that will more than double its utility customers in eight states adding an opportunity to expand its program of providing reserves for ratepayers from its exploration and production (E&P) segment, Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. has agreed to acquire SourceGas Holding LLC for $1.89 billion.

Minnesota Power plans to idle its Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder, MN, next year, cease coal operations there in 2020, and add 200-300 MW of natural gas-fired generation to its portfolio within the next decade, all as part of a long-term plan to reduce carbon emissions.

Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s (MPC) midstream master limited partnership, MPLX LP, has agreed to acquire MarkWest Energy Partners LP for roughly $15.8 billion in a deal that could double MarkWest’s growth profile over the next five years.

With a flood of Marcellus natural gas lining up at the exit there’s a good chance Midwest pricing may get trampled as the gas races to previously inaccessible markets. Tallgrass Energy Partners LP’s REX Zone 3 promises to be the new way out with the anticipated Aug. 1 beginning of East-to-West flows on the pipeline, which has major interconnects with Midwest-serving pipelines such as ANR, PEPL, and NGPL.

In a deal that will more than double its utility customers in eight states adding an opportunity to expand its program of providing reserves for ratepayers from its exploration and production (E&P) segment, Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. has agreed to acquire SourceGas Holding LLC for $1.89 billion.

Minnesota Power plans to idle its Taconite Harbor Energy Center in Schroeder, MN, next year, cease coal operations there in 2020, and add 200-300 MW of natural gas-fired generation to its portfolio within the next decade, all as part of a long-term plan to reduce carbon emissions.

Marathon Petroleum Corp.'s (MPC) midstream master limited partnership, MPLX LP, has agreed to acquire…