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WEI Member News Changes Made to NV Energy Small Wind Program NV Energy recently increased the financial incentives for its WindGenerations program, encouraging Nevadans to install wind turbines at their homes and businesses. By doubling the cap on the total amount of kilowatts that can qualify them for financial incentives, NV Energy residential customers could earn rebates for a maximum of 60 kilowatts (kW) of wind-generated power. More EWEB Resets Job Loss Program, Offers $300 Credits Since launching an assistance fund in March to help Eugene Water & Electric Board customers left jobless due to the economic downturn, the utility has provided approximately $692,000 to more than 2,980 unemployed residential customers. More From Drought to Monsoon on Vancouver Island The 2009 weather year on Vancouver Island, from the perspective of rain and snow abundance and the challenge that presented BC Hydro in its hydroelectric operation, was unprecedented. More Industry Collaborative Proposes Unique Approach to Smart Grid Training and Recruiting A collaboration of energy industry partners have submitted a proposal for research and support to build “Smart Grid - the Game” with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, Pub. L. 111-5). The proposal focuses on studying the potential value of gaming technology to teach and select the next generation of system operators and engineers. More LADWP to Receive $146.5 Million for Energy Provided During State Energy Crisis The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will receive a $146.5 million settlement payment for electricity that LADWP sold on credit to other utilities in the state during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. More Nexen Provides Long Lake Oil Sands Project Update, Announces Owowo Discovery, Offshore West Africa and 2010 Budget Nexen continues to see positive results at Long Lake following the successful completion of the turnaround program in September. As the company moves into 2010, its priorities include the ramp up of Long Lake, sanctioning its discoveries in the North Sea, the continued improvement of its Horn River shale gas returns, the development of its offshore Usan project and ongoing exploration in core areas. More Northeast Washington Food Banks Receive Grants from Avista Foundation Year-end giving is not uncommon, and it’s precisely this time of year that food banks in Washington’s northeast region receive increased requests for assistance. To help meet those seasonal needs, the Avista Foundation has made grants of $340 each to support five Northeast Washington-area food banks: Addy Rescue Mission, Senior Citizens of Chewelah Valley, Colville Volunteer Food and Resource Center, Kettle Falls Community Chest, and Northport Food Bank. More NW Natural Employees Race to Keep Customers Warm During December’s cold weather, compressor equipment supporting the interstate pipeline serving the Willamette Valley and Southwest Washington failed. As a result, things could have gotten pretty cold for a lot of NW Natural customers. But an aggressive emergency response effort--with more than 3,000 hours of overtime from NW Natural employees--had customers’ equipment up and running by 10 p.m. that evening. More Pacific Power Blue Sky Customers Give More Than $394,000 to Boost Community Solar Projects Six community-based solar energy projects are receiving $394,750 in funding from Pacific Power’s Blue Sky renewable energy program. PGE Employees Donate Record-Breaking $1.62 million to Local Organizations PUD Testifies on Tidal Energy Before U.S. Congressional Committee Snohomish County Public Utility District served as one of the key witnesses speaking before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, which is exploring the huge potential for harnessing energy from waves, tidal flows, and ocean and river currents. The PUD plans to deploy a tidal energy pilot plant in the Puget Sound as early as 2011. More Puget Sound Energy Low-Income Weatherization Funds to More than Double Next Year Thanks to Enron Settlement Distribution Low-income weatherization funds for qualifying PSE customers will more than double in 2010 as a result of the utility receiving more than $2.1 million from the 2005 Enron settlement reached with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. More Research Shows Customers Value Chelan County PUD and Predictable Rates Customer-owners give Chelan County PUD high marks for reliable service and low rates, and they want any rate increases to be small, predictable and justifiable. They especially like PUD parks and say they’re willing to pay more to keep them in good order. More Seattle City Light Honored for Communications Excellence SMUD Named in Grant Funding for Energy Storage Project The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and partners Premium Power, National Grid and three others will receive $7.32 million from one of only 16 Smart Grid Energy Storage Demonstration Grants awarded by the Department of Energy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. More Southern California Edison’s Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project Approved by California Public Utilities Commission The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE) application to build segments 4-11 of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP). It will be the first major transmission project in California built for the specific purpose of accessing multiple renewable generation sources in remote renewable-rich resource areas, an essential step for California to meet its renewable energy goals. More Spectra Energy Completes Sale of Nevis and Brazeau River Midstream Facilities to Keyera Facilities Income Fund Spectra Energy announced it has completed the previously announced sale of Spectra Energy Midstream's Nevis and Brazeau River natural gas gathering and processing facilities to Keyera Facilities Income Fund, at a sale price of approximately CDN $129 million, subject to normal closing adjustments. More SRP's New Springerville Power Plant Fully Operational SRP's newest baseload power plant, Springerville Unit 4, has been put into commercial operation and is now supplying electricity to SRP customers. The new unit, located at Tucson Electric Power's existing Springerville Generating Station, has been under construction since late 2006. More Terasen Gas Employees Make Wishes Come True for Families In Transition Homes This Season For the fifth consecutive holiday season, Terasen Gas employees have delivered tidings of comfort and joy to children and women who have sought temporary refuge in transition homes. Through an annual two-week toy drive, employees donated and delivered new toys, winter clothing and gifts to families living in six Lower Mainland transition homes. More
TransCanada Reveals Record $2.54 Million Gift to United Way TransCanada raised a record-breaking $2.54 million from its 2009 United Way campaign through the efforts of its employees, contractors and retirees in regions across North America, an increase of more than $70,000 from 2008. More Williams Gets FERC Approval for Gas Pipeline Extension Federal regulators have approved Williams Cos.’s plans for a natural-gas pipeline expansion project in the Rocky Mountain region. More
Rest of the West
PG&E Agrees to Purchase and Operate Major California Wind Energy Project Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced that it has contracted with Iberdrola Renewables, Inc., the U.S. arm of the world's largest provider of wind power, to purchase and operate a major wind generating plant to be built in Southern California to serve the utility's electric customers. More Xcel Energy ‘Lights Out Lunch’ Event Wins Support from Colorado Residents, Businesses This holiday season, Colorado residents and businesses celebrated energy efficiency by shutting off their lights from noon to 1 p.m. on Dec. 11 during Lights Out Lunch. More
On the Move
David Crane and Timothy Probert Named Directors of El Paso Corporation More Greg Rizzo to Become President and CEO, Mark Fiedorek Appointed to Board at Spectra Energy Partners More Spectra Energy Appoints John Patrick Reddy as Chief Financial Officer More Mary Kipp Appointed VP & Chief Compliance Officer at El Paso Electric More El Paso Electric Appoints Nathan Hirschi New Vice President of Special Projects More
News Copenhagen Accord Leaves Participant Nations Unsatisfied The non-binding agreement reached in the last hours of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen has been blasted by critics for its vague language and for the lack of commitments from industrialized nations to make concrete reductions. More U.S. Companies Look to China for High-Voltage Transmission Duke Energy Corp. is reportedly in early stages of talks with China’s State Grid Corp. to build transmission in the U.S., a possible partnership that highlights the appeal of access to China’s low-cost equipment for use in capital projects. More ExxonMobil Bets on Natural Gas Future with Purchase of XTO ExxonMobil’s purchase of XTO Energy, the U.S.’s largest natural gas producer, indicates that the company anticipates natural gas shedding its short-term difficulties and emerging once again as a fuel whose profits are competitive with oil. More NASA & Google Offer Different Paths to Verify CO2 Emissions, Reductions As countries contemplate pledges to make carbon reductions, one outstanding issue is that of verifying the actions they take. More EPA CO2 Ruling Comes with Regulatory Obligations With its determination that greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to public health, the EPA may find itself obligated to regulate mobile sources in addition to stationary ones—as well as address legal arguments that it should categorize greenhouse gases as criteria pollutants. More North Dakota May Challenge Minnesota CO2 Rule Minnesota’s efforts to penalize utilities that purchase coal-generated electricity may prompt a lawsuit from neighboring North Dakota. More Tres Amigas Awaits FERC Decisions on Key Issues Tres Amigas LLC is awaiting the FERC’s decision on two issues key to its plans to build facilities that would link North America’s three electricity grids and convert incoming alternating-current flows to direct current supply that could be sold where prices were favorable. California Governor Calls for Climate Change Preparedness As a complement to the state’s aggressive greenhouse gas reduction efforts, Gov. Schwarzenegger says the state must make preparations for the environmental effects of unchecked global climate change. Regional Carbon Prices Hit Low Depressed power demand and low prices for natural gas have caused the price for carbon allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to decrease to $2.05 a ton in December. While still higher than the lowest permitted level of $1.86 a ton, the figure represents the allowances’ lowest price yet, down from a peak in March. More DOE Attorneys Keep Yucca Mountain Licensing Process on Track Despite the Obama administration’s position that Yucca Mountain is not a viable repository for nuclear waste, lawyers for the Department of Energy met a December filing deadline with their responses to questions Nevada’s attorneys raised with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. More EPA Wants N.Y. Drilling Rules to Look Harder at Water Impact, Long-Term Effects The EPA has told New York regulators that their proposed draft rules for gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing will require significantly more investigation into the practice’s cumulative effects as well as potential health impacts. More EPA Ruling Will be Tough on Coal While the coal industry and coal-dependent states looked with some trepidation toward possible climate change legislation, December’s move by the EPA to regulate carbon emissions could be even tougher. More Some Customers Claim Smart Meters Aren’t Counting Right Smart meters, which many hope will play a central role in integrating renewable energy into a more transparent and responsive grid, are not being received well by some customers in California. More Utilities Exempt from House OTC Derivatives Restrictions House Resolution 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, passed in December without amendments that would have prevented utilities’ use of over-the-counter derivatives to hedge fuel prices. More Ozone Hole May Have Been Offsetting Global Warming Effects in Antarctic Analysis from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research indicates that the successful ban of CFCs may actually have contributed to global warming by halting the growth of the hole in the ozone above the South Pole. More
Safe Hydrogen Storage could be a Game-Changer Hydrogen’s explosive properties have long been an obstacle to its adoption in commercial and consumer uses. But a technology originating with the Soviet space program may store the fuel more safely, opening the door to its commercialization. More Western Natural Gas Market Review More
Western LNG Update Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline, LP and Jordan Cove Energy Project, LP Receive FERC Approval More Oregon Officials to Appeal FERC Approval of Jordan Cove More Remaining Cook Inlet Gas Reserves May be Costly to Extract More Mexico Will Use More Electricity, Natural Gas from LNG in Future More Gas-Exporting Nations’ Cartel not yet on the Agenda More Gazprom Increases U.S. Presence More U.S. Demand to Stay Slack, LNG Imports to Double in 2010 More Traders Watching U.S.-U.K. Gas Price Spread More |
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