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WEI Member News ATCO to Build Major 240-KV Transmission Line In Alberta After extensive public consultation, ATCO Electric has received all regulatory approvals to proceed with construction of a new 140-mile transmission line required to support increasing power needs in fast-growing northwest Alberta. More ConocoPhillips Joins World Bank’s Efforts to Reduce Gas Flaring Chelan County PUD Hydropower to be Traded on Chicago Climate Exchange The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has approved a portion of the hydropower generated at Chelan County Public Utility District’s Rocky Reach Dam to be traded to offset greenhouse gas emissions from other sources. More El Paso Corporation Announces Rockies Pipeline Project El Paso Corporation has filed a federal right-of-way application with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management for El Paso's Ruby Pipeline project--a 680-mile, 42-inch natural gas transmission pipeline that begins at the Opal Hub in Wyoming and terminates at the Malin, Oregon interconnect near California's northern border. More Gerlach Schools Go Solar for the Holidays Students in Gerlach, Nevada will be celebrating a "green" Christmas because their campus will soon be powered by renewable energy. More No Firm Transportation Capacity Relinquished in Kern River Open Season Kern River Gas Transmission Company announced last month that none of its shippers elected to relinquish existing firm transportation capacity by the Dec. 17, 2007, deadline established as part of the company’s open season for an expansion project. More Nation’s Largest Solar PV System Takes Flight at Nellis Air Force Base Last month the U.S. Air Force celebrated the completion of North America’s largest solar photovoltaic system at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. More New Southern California Edison Renewable Energy Contracts Increase Nation’s Largest Portfolio Southern California Edison, the nation’s leading purchaser of renewable energy, has signed two new contracts that could provide the utility’s customers with more than 185 MW of environmentally friendly generation--enough to power about 120,000 homes at a point in time. More
New Study Says Conservation Can Power A Million Homes BC Hydro has completed a Conservation Potential Review (CPR) study that identifies more than 10,000 GWh/year--enough to power one million homes--that could be achieved through conservation by the year 2020. More PGE Employees Donate Record-Breaking $1.43 Million to Charities Puget Sound Energy and Consortium of North American Infrastructure Investors File Merger Application Puget Sound Energy, a regulated utility subsidiary of Puget Energy, and a consortium of North American infrastructure investors filed an application with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to request its approval in connection with the proposed merger of Puget Energy announced on Oct. 26, 2007. More Skagit River Flood Control Protected Property, Saved Salmon When record rains doused Western Washington in December, the Skagit River Valley avoided many of the flooding problems that plagued other areas in Washington thanks in part to water flow management at Seattle City Light’s three Skagit River dams. More
Solar Energy will Power Pumping Station for California Geothermal Plant Northern California Power Agency, located in Roseville, Calif. and SPG Solar, located in San Rafael, Calif. today announced that they will join forces to build a solar array that will power an existing pump station supplying the NCPA Geysers Geothermal Energy Plant near Middletown, Calif. More Terasen Gas Employees Donate Toys to Transition Houses This holiday season, Terasen Gas employees played Santa, delivering toys to children who spent the holidays in local transition houses. More
On the Move
Mossadiq Umedaly Appointed BC Hydro Board Chair More
Larry Carr Elected SMUD Board President, Howard Posner Re-Elected VP More
ENMAX Appoints Dave Rehn Executive VP of Generation More
SMUD General Manager Jan Schori Announces Retirement More
News
New Energy Act Will Have Sweeping Impact on Industry, Consumers The Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007, signed by the President in December raises fuel economy standards for the first time in three decades, establishes efficiency standards for consumer products and even government buildings and requires the nation be producing 36 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2022. More
California Lawmakers Struggle with Specifics of GHG Plan Though California has boasted that its new GHG emissions-reduction plan should serve as a national and international example, the law’s implementation may pose challenges. More Multiple Applications Received for North Slope Gas Pipeline Project Several companies submitted applications to construct a North Slope Gas Pipeline under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. MacKenzie Basin Gas Project Overhauled A re-worked proposal for the Mackenzie Gas Project should deliver high returns to operator TransCanada Corp. while relieving producers of some of their cost burdens. More Canadian Oilsands Exploration Gains Steam The coming year will likely bring a continued decline in natural gas drilling, while oilsands excavation will increase as a result of historically high crude oil prices. More Bali Conference Points to New International Climate Change Agreement December’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali saw participation from 187 countries, closing with the goal of concluding negotiations on a new climate change agreement by 2009. This would allow the new agreement to be implemented by 2013, when the Kyoto Protocol expires. More EPA Will Release Greenhouse Gas Documents The EPA will comply with a congressional request for all documents related to its decision to block California’s new greenhouse gas restrictions. More Energy Department to Re-Examine “National Interest” Designation In early December, the Energy Department said it would re-examine its designation of two areas in the country as “national interest electric transmission corridors”—a move that came as good news to people fighting proposed lines in those regions. More FERC Wants Details of Cyber-Security Plans Federal energy regulators have requested that the White House approve a rule requiring the energy industry to submit detailed reports about the ways it is addressing vulnerabilities in its online systems. More Green Exchange Formed by Financial and Energy Industry Players The first quarter of 2008 will see trading begin on The Green Exchange, a newly formed environmental marketplace formed by NYMEX Holdings, Inc. and other market participants. More After Many Years, a Shift Toward Nuclear Power In the last five months of 2007, federal regulators received license applications for six new nuclear reactors. Prior to 2007, not a single company had applied to construct a new reactor since Pennsylvania’s Three-Mile Island incident in 1979. More
Study Offers Consensus Natural Gas Forecast for the Northwest Region A study released by the Northwest Gas Association projects continued growth in natural gas demand across Idaho, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia through 2012, thanks to the increasing number of residential consumers in the region, most of whom will rely on the fuel for both heat and electricity. More Portland Seeks Support for Stringent Green Building Standards Following a controversial November announcement that new buildings in the city of Portland would be taxed unless they conformed to more stringent efficiency standards, city officials are spending time with the public, builders and realtors, in an effort to garner support for their ambitious sustainable housing plan. More Western Natural Gas Market Review More Western LNG Updates
Pipeline, LNG Project Prompt Conflict-of-Interest Concerns More
Oregon’s Governor Criticizes FERC’s Environmental Impact Analysis More
Oregon LNG Simulates Tanker Navigation and Docking More
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January
2008 News Team |
January 2008
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