FERC has agreed to a pre-filing review of Columbia Gas Transmission’s proposed 165-mile natural gas pipeline in West Virginia. Columbia said the formal application of the $2 billion Mountaineer Express Project will be filed in April. If approved, construction will begin in the second half of 2017.
The proposed pipeline is designed to give producers in the Marcellus and Utica shale regions a new gateway to markets in the east. The pre-filing process, which involves a series of public scoping sessions, allows the pipeline operator to modify its design before submitting a formal application.
More: Associated Press
Senate Democrats Ask Obama to Block Arctic Drilling
A dozen Democratic U.S. Senators last week sent a letter to President Obama asking him to block any more drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The senators had previously opposed Royal Dutch Shell’s drilling program in the Chukchi Sea, which Obama allowed.
“You have stated many times that America must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and build our capacity for clean, renewable energy,” the letter reads. “Allowing Shell to expand fossil fuel drilling in the Arctic is incompatible with this imperative and with your commitment that the United States will lead the global effort to address climate change.”
The letter was signed by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Al Franken (Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Cory Booker (N.J.) and Gary Peters (Mich.).
More: The Hill
NRC Inspecting Failure of Control Valves at Callaway
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is conducting a special investigation into the failure of three of four steam generator water-flow control valves at Ameren’s Callaway nuclear plant in Fulton, Mo.
The failures were noted in three separate instances: one in August 2014, one in December 2014 and a third at an unspecified date. The 2014 incidents were related to a system modification. The third instance was also related to the same system and has since been corrected.
“The purpose of this special inspection is to better understand the circumstances surrounding the valve failures, determine if the licensee’s extent of condition review was sufficiently comprehensive and review the licensee’s corrective actions to ensure that the causes of the failures have been effectively addressed,” NRC Region IV Administrator Marc Dapas said. Callaway is a 1,190-MW single-unit station that went commercial in 1984.
More: POWER Magazine
EPA Hears Criticism of Proposed Methane Emission Rule
Representatives of the oil and gas industry told the Environmental Protection Agency that its proposed rules controlling methane emissions could kill the incentive to produce natural gas.
Industry representatives shared their views at a meeting in Colorado hosted by EPA to hear feedback on the proposed rule, which would cut emissions by 40 to 45% by 2025 compared with 2012 levels. The agency said the rule could add $420 million annually to the cost of energy extraction but would reduce health care costs by up to $550 million a year.
But Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said the rule would push up the price of natural gas and maybe convince industrial consumers to switch back to dirtier fuels, such as diesel. She and other industry officials noted that while the rules only target the oil and natural gas industries, other industries, such as agriculture, produce significant amounts of methane emissions but would remain unregulated.
More: Associated Press
PennEast Files FERC Application for Marcellus Shale Gas Pipeline
A group of New Jersey and Pennsylvania utilities filed a formal application with FERC to move forward with the controversial $1 billion PennEast Pipeline project to tap into Marcellus Shale natural gas production, saying the new pipeline would deliver low gas prices, stable electricity rates and a manufacturing renaissance to the region.
The 118-mile pipeline, which is fiercely opposed by environmentalists and adjoining landowners, will deliver 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day from the Marcellus gas region to markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. About 72% of the capacity is committed to local distribution companies, including UGI Utilities in Pennsylvania and Public Service Electric & Gas, South Jersey Gas, Elizabethtown Gas and New Jersey Gas in New Jersey. Power plant operators and gas producers have locked up the rest of the capacity.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Northern Pass Tx Line Review Period Extended
The Energy Department has agreed to reopen the environmental study of the Northern Pass transmission line, which would import hydroelectric power from Canada.
Developer Eversource Energy made enough changes to the transmission line’s route to warrant preparation of a supplement to the draft Environmental Impact Statement, the department said. Political leaders and environmental groups asked the department to reopen the environmental review of the project in light of the new tower heights, configuration and locations.
The department is also extending the public comment period on the draft EIS to Dec. 31, 2015, and postponing the public hearings to a date to be determined before the end of the new public comment period. Eversource said it does not expect the changes to the schedule will delay the project.
More: New Hampshire Union Leader
Feds Plan Auction of Offshore Leases for Windmills
Federal officials will seek bids to lease nearly 344,000 acres of ocean floor off of New Jersey on Nov. 9. If fully developed, the area could provide enough power for 1.2 million homes, according to the Interior Department and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Thirteen companies have qualified to bid on the leases in an area which runs roughly from Long Beach Island to Cape May. Gov. Chris Christie’s administration would have to approve the projects.
More: Associated Press
FERC Announces 2016 Meeting Dates
FERC on Monday announced its 11 open meeting dates for 2016. As in past years, the commission will not meet in August.
More: FERC