Infrastructure

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line (Transco) has asked FERC to initiate a pre-filing review of the expansion of its system in Alabama to provide approximately 1.13 Bcf/d of natural gas to meet growing power generation demand in Florida.

A former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said he is concerned about the federal government’s delay in issuing regulations to implement the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Jobs Creation Act, which President Obama signed into law in January 2012 (see Daily GPI,Jan. 4, 2012).

A consortium involving units of General Electric Corp. (GE) and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced Wednesday the first in a series of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities they hope to develop will be sited in Florida.

A California regulatory judge has recommended that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) be fined $6.75 million for allegedly misstating facts to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regarding an incorrectly classified natural gas transmission lateral on the peninsula south of San Francisco.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and the Wyoming Pipeline Authority (WPA) have called on FERC to reject Trailblazer Pipeline Co. LLC’s proposed revisions to its natural gas quality standards, saying they would be not only harmful to the state but the rest of the nation as well.

Sustained by low-cost shale gas resources, the North American natural gas industry has embarked on a period of sustained growth, but it will have to address the challenges of a rapidly evolving U.S. energy market for the economy to fully realize its benefits, according to a report issued Wednesday by Black & Veatch.

Noting that the company is operating in a politically charged environment, PG&E Corp. CEO Tony Earley predicted Wednesday that pending multi-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline fines and penalty cases should be decided by state regulators in the first quarter of 2014. If proposed penalties exceeding $2 billion are imposed, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) will appeal in either state or federal courts.

Multiple pipeline expansions expected to come online between now and 2015 in the Northeast will take more gas out of the Marcellus Shale, but they won’t do much to alleviate winter price spikes in New England, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Looking to balance its current power portfolio while adding generation to meet increased customer demand, Duke Energy subsidiary Duke Energy Carolinas filed an application with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) seeking approval to construct and operate a 750 MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant at the existing Lee Steam Station in Anderson County, SC.