Regulatory

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has released a settlement with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania for public comment that alleges safety violations at two of the company’s work sites in the state.

A group of Central and Eastern European ambassadors to the United States on Monday urged congressional leaders to greenlight U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.

The final rule to reduce natural gas venting and flaring from oil and gas operations on public and Indian lands, issued Tuesday by the Department of Interior, drew an immediate lawsuit by two industry groups, which claim the broad air quality regime goes beyond any authority granted by Congress.

Millions of abandoned wells may be a substantial source of methane in the atmosphere, but identifying them remains a challenge — and a big reason to study Pennsylvania, which has the longest history of U.S. oil and gas development and where scientists hope to find clues on how to fix a nationwide problem.

New Jersey’s ratepayer advocate continues to oppose the PennEast Pipeline LLC, repeating its position in a filing with FERC Monday that the project’s backers have not shown the additional capacity is needed to meet demand.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management office in Utah on Thursday posted a proposed list of four parcels totaling 4,175 acres that will be offered in an online oil/natural gas lease sale in the first quarter.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has set an experiment in time-of-use electricity rates for large users — commercial, industrial and agricultural customers — offering mid-day pricing discounts when the state’s growing renewable-generated power supplies are most plentiful. The five-member CPUC said it hopes the experimental Energy Matinee Pricing program proves beneficial to consumers and better manages the state’s water and energy resources. The program is designed to use price signals to encourage the state’s largest electricity consumers to shift more of their energy demand to times when energy generation from renewables and low-water using energy are abundant. Energy use profiles show that late afternoon to evening, when solar and wind supplies are low, often is a peak demand time. The discount pricing in afternoon hours are designed to draw more nonresidential load to the mid-afternoon time period, when renewables, particularly solar, are more plentiful.

As a way to curb peak winter day natural gas use, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday approved consumer programs for Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).

Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren said Thursday he “just didn’t see” Donald Trump winning the race for president, but now that he has, there’s not much to complain about.