Low Oil Prices not Expected to Slow Fracking Next Year
Despite a drop in oil prices brought on in part by increased U.S. production, oil and gas exploration is still expected to begin in southern Illinois, according to industry officials.
“We are going to continue with our evaluation in Illinois even at these prices,” said Mark Sooter, business development manager of Woolsey Operating. The company’s sister corporation, Woolsey Energy, is a leading holder of oil and gas leases in the New Albany Shale formation.
Fracking was approved by the state this year, and permitting is beginning. Pending any legal blocks, the first wells could be drilled by the middle of next year.
More: Southern Business Journal
ComEd, Ameren Illinois Rate Hikes Gain ICC Approval
The Commerce Commission last week approved overall rate increases of 11% for Commonwealth Edison and 17.4% for Ameren Illinois, increasing annual revenue about $245 million for ComEd and about $137 million for Ameren.
The rates were set using a formula that is based in part on the companies’ investment in infrastructure, such as smart meters and smart grid technology. “The power grid is evolving and it is my belief that these investments will result in positive changes and new innovative energy services for customers,” ICC Chairman Doug Scott said.
The Citizens Utility Board, an advocacy group, said it would appeal the rulings.
More: Associated Press
IOWA
State May Look to Hydro for Next Energy Boon After Wind
With the state ranking third in the U.S. in wind energy production, a legislator says it is time to look at increasing hydropower resources.
State Rep. Dan Kelley plans to ask for the state to put aside money to study hydro power. “The state of Iowa has become a national leader in wind energy, and that shows we have the wherewithal and the interest to pursue renewables to a great extent,” Kelley said. “There’s no reason we can’t do the same with hydropower.”
A 2012 U.S. Department of Energy study estimated that the state has 427 MW of untapped hydro power – quadruple its current capacity, but only a tenth of its 5,000 MW of wind capacity. Wind power currently accounts for 27% of the state’s electricity.
More: Midwest Energy News
MINNESOTA
Coal Supplies Already Low at Some Midwest Power Plants
A transportation official told lawmakers that rail congestion and cold weather have already limited coal supplies at some Midwest power plants, but a warm up may allow stockpiles to be rebuilt before winter really arrives.
“We are at the whim of Mother Nature at this point,” said Dave Christianson of the Department of Transportation. He told the Legislative Energy Commission that some plants saw their stockpiles drop to 10% of capacity earlier this year, and supplies now average 30 to 40%.
Railroad officials said a sudden increase in coal shipping demands last year was one cause of rail line congestion. But incoming chairman of the House jobs and energy committee, Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo, said trains are too busy hauling oil from the Bakken oilfield to transport coal and crops. Garofalo supports more pipeline construction.
More: Pioneer Press
NORTH CAROLINA
AG: Utilities Should Pass on Savings from Corporate Tax Cut
Attorney General Roy Cooper is appealing a decision of the Utilities Commission that allowed utilities to keep proceeds from corporate state income tax cuts rather than passing them on to customers.
The lower corporate tax rate was approved in 2013 by the General Assembly, which also raised the taxes paid by customers on their utility bills. This fall, the commission reversed an earlier ruling and said it couldn’t lower customer rates to reflect the lower corporate taxes.
“Utility shareholders were allowed to pocket the cost savings associated with the reduced state corporate income taxes while most customer bills increased from the combined effect of the other tax changes,” according to the attorney general’s filing with the state Court of Appeals last week.
More: WRAL
Duke Plan to Repair Leaking Pipe at Charlotte Coal Ash Dump Gets OK
State environmental officials approved a Duke Energy plan to empty contaminated wastewater from a coal ash dump at its Marshall Steam Station near Charlotte to fix a leaking drainage pipe.
The leaking pipe was discovered about six months ago after a similar pipe collapsed at the company’s Dan River plant, contaminating 70 miles of river and sparking an investigation into all of Duke’s coal ash lagoons. State Dam Safety Engineer Steve McEvoy said it has received requests for permits to conduct repairs at 18 of the company’s 32 coal ash sites throughout the state.
More: Associated Press
PENNSYLVANIA
Wolf Appoints Former PUC, DEP Chief to Planning Post
Governor-elect Tom Wolf named John Hanger, the former Department of Environmental Protection secretary who oversaw the massive growth of the state’s shale-gas industry, as his planning and policy secretary.
Hanger, who ran for governor this year but endorsed Wolf after dropping out, served on the Public Utility Commission from 1993 to 1998 under Gov. Robert Casey and was former Gov. Ed Rendell’s DEP secretary from 2008 to 2011. He will work alongside another former gubernatorial challenger, Katie McGinty, whom Wolf named as his chief of staff last month. McGinty was also Hanger’s predecessor as secretary at DEP.
More: StateImpact
WEST VIRGINIA
Permits Issued for Fracking Under Ohio River by State
West Virginia has approved three permits to drill for oil and gas under the Ohio River.
The state, which controls the rights beneath most of the land underlying the river, says the money earned from leasing the acreage and any royalties earned from production will be put in the state parks budget. With horizontal drilling techniques, production companies can access the deep shale formation from well sites on the river banks.
The drilling companies must still obtain state Department of Environmental Protection permits before beginning. Josh Jarrell, deputy security and general counsel of the state Department of Commerce, said the state has adequate protections in place to ensure water quality is not hurt by drilling under a body of water. Drilling beneath bodies of water is a common practice in other states.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
WISCONSIN
PSC Hears Plan for Xcel, ATC $540M Tx Line
The Public Service Commission will hold hearings throughout the state to examine a plan by Xcel Energy and American Transmission Co. to build what would be the most expensive transmission line in state history.
The 345-kV Badger-Coulee line would run about 180 miles from Madison to Lacrosse and cost between $540 million and $580 million, funded by rate increases to Xcel and ATC customers. The line, first proposed in 2010, is designed to bring increased renewable power production, mostly wind energy, into the MISO system.
More: Badger Herald