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February 3, 2012 TEXAS LEADING IN GREEN ENERGY USE, TOO Three Texas
cities – Houston, Austin and Dallas – lead the nation for the largest purchases
of green energy by local governments, according to new rankings released this
week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. All three cities
earned their top rankings through purchases of wind energy, which the second-ranking
City
of Austin uses to supply 100 percent of municipal government’s needs.
The city began purchasing wind for its entire annual energy needs – some
406,000,000 kilowatts – from Austin Energy on Oct. 1, 2011, the
start of the local government’s fiscal year. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Texas Energy Report |
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January 31, 2012 THREE HOUSE COMMITTEES TO DRILL DOWN ON FRACKING CONCERNS Both the promise
and perils of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, will undergo
scrutiny by three Texas House committees this summer, bipartisan chairmen of the
panels told Texas Energy Report Tuesday. Business & Industry
Committee Chairman Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont) said fracking
has invigorated Texas oil and gas drilling and the state economy, but it has
also frightened a skittish public worried about safe and available water
supplies, earthquakes and other environmental impacts. His committee,
the Energy
Resources Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Keffer (R-Eastland) and
the Natural
Resources Committee led by Rep. Allan B. Ritter (R-Nederland)
have agreed to take an in-depth look at fracking this summer, possibly at joint
hearings. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 31, 2012 AMES JONES ASKS ABBOTT’S OPINION ON RESIDENCY Elizabeth Ames Jones, who is vying with Sen. Jeff Wentworth for Texas Senate District 25, said
Monday she’s asking for an official opinion on her residency requirements. As the
incumbent, Wentworth has complained that Jones is not eligible to run for the
seat. He contends her duties as Texas Railroad Commission Chairman
require her to reside in “Sen. Wentworth
is persisting in his effort to distract voters from his problematic record.
First, he challenged my eligibility to run against him in the Republican
primary although he knows full well that my home is in The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 27, 2012 FRASER ‘TAKEN ABACK’ BY EAGLE FORD TASK FORCE FINDINGS ON WATER SUFFICIENCY A key state
lawmaker studying implications of the state’s exceptional drought says he’s
“taken aback” by a declaration from the Eagle Ford Task Force that South
Texas has enough water to support oil and gas fracking operations. Texas Railroad Commissioner David
Porter issued a
press release Thursday saying his 26-member task force has
found that water supplies are sufficient to support Eagle Ford Shale
drilling, along with agricultural and municipal needs. “Did they take
into account that we’re in a drought of record?” asked Senate Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), who is holding hearings on
interim charges related to the drought. “I’m taken aback
that they would do this and release this without either my input or reporting
to me what they found,” Fraser added. “I’d like to know who did the report,
what was included in it, and is that considering current drought conditions.” The task force
did not compile its own report or conduct its own independent research,
according to Lauren Willis, director
of public affairs for Porter. Instead, most of its members agreed at a closed
meeting in December that Porter’s office should issue a statement saying the
group finds no conflicts between water demands from fracking and other needs. The press
release quoted Porter as saying, “I am pleased to announce, after exhaustive
research, our task force has found water sourcing in South Texas is currently
not an issue.” The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 25, 2012 TCAP REPORT: ELECTRIC DEREG FAILS TO DELIVER Texans have paid
higher prices for power that is less reliable – as evidenced by two rolling
blackouts – during a decade of electric deregulation, a consumer report
released Wednesday asserts. The report, Deregulated
Electricity in Texas: A History of Retail Competition – The
First 10 Years, prompted swift reaction from critics who questioned its
methods for comparing prices and reliability outcomes. Commissioned by
the Texas
Coalition for Affordable Power, a non-profit including 163
municipalities and other political subdivisions, the report takes sharp aim at
higher retail prices, increased consumer complaints and greater reliability
problems. Key findings: The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 25, 2012 BLACKMON: ON NATURAL GAS, TEXAS LEADS THE WAY...AGAIN Tuesday night was an interesting one for the political debate around energy in the U.S. It was especially interesting for the nation's natural gas industry, as President Barack Obama touched on several natural gas-related subjects in his annual State of the Union message to Congress. In his speech, the President discussed his intent to require disclosure of the chemical content in hydraulic fracturing fluids. Fortunately for Texans, we already have such a requirement in place, thanks to Governor Rick Perry, legislators like Rep. Jim Keffer, Sen. Jane Nelson and Sen. Troy Fraser, and the Texas Railroad Commission. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By David Blackmon |
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January 24, 2012 OIL, GAS REGULATORS APPROVE STIFFER SAFETY FINES Texas Railroad
Commissioners gave
initial approval Tuesday, as expected, to new penalty hikes for safety
violations across six major divisions. The higher
fines, which include enhanced penalties for repeat offenders, would apply to
safety regulations involving oil and gas, pipelines, liquefied petroleum-gas,
compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and underground pipeline damage
prevention. It is the first
time the commission has published across-the-board guidelines for safety
penalties, which will be subject to public comment for 30 days before final
adoption. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 24, 2012 ANGA HONORS TOMMY WILLIAMS FOR SB 20 America’s Natural Gas
Alliance gave Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) its Blue Flame award in
Houston last night for advancing natural gas-powered transportation in Texas. Williams’ Senate
Bill 20, which passed the Texas Legislature last spring,
establishes the Texas Clean Transportation Triangle to develop natural gas
fueling stations for vehicles traveling along highways connecting Houston, San
Antonio/Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth. Advocates say
implementation of the plan over a four-year period will reduce emissions as
much as taking 175,000 gasoline-powered cars off Texas highways. The plan would
also help create a new market for natural gas, which has seen its prices
plummet below $3 per thousand cubic feet recently in response to a domestic
glut made possible by hydraulic fracturing. “Encouraging the
deployment of natural gas vehicles in Texas is the right approach and positions
the Lone
Star State as a leader in the development and deployment of vehicles
that are fueled by a domestically produced energy source that’s affordable and
cleaner burning,” said David Blackmon,
who leads the Texas State Committee of ANGA. By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 24, 2012 COMPANIES PUSH ENERGY EFFICIENCY Texas ranks 33rd
among states in adopting energy efficiency measures, but a group of industry
officials are hoping to change that. The South-central
Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER) is stressing that
energy efficiency is the least expensive resource available for Texas to avoid
rolling blackouts next summer. The Texas
Electric Reliability Council reported last year that it would fall
below its electric reserve target this summer and far below it by 2014.
However, a federal court has temporarily delayed the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Cross-State
Air Pollution Rule, meaning two coal-powered generating plants will
remain online, said ERCOT spokeswoman Dottie Roark. She added the
addition of the two power plants will only barely help the grid operator meet
its target this summer, and a repeat of last year’s record temperatures could
still lead to very tight electric supplies. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 23, 2012 RR COMMISSION: REPEAT OFFENDERS BEWARE Chronic
violators of Texas Railroad Commission safety rules better clean up their
acts or brace themselves for sticker shock. Tomorrow
commissioners who regulate the state’s booming oil and gas industry are
expected to approve penalty hikes in six major categories, taking special aim
at repeat offenders, Commissioner David Porter told Texas
Energy Report Monday. The proposed penalty hikes – the first since 2004
– will then undergo a 30-day public comment period before new rules are
finalized. Repeat offenders will see their penalties enhanced. “It is due time
that the Railroad Commission adopt formal rules strengthening enforcement
penalties,” said Porter. “I am especially pleased to see the proposals to
increase penalties on repeat offenders. The energy industry overall has a solid
record at the commission, and we shouldn’t let these few bad actors tarnish the
state’s reputation as the gold standard.” The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 23, 2012 APACHE BUYS CORDILLERA ENERGY FOR $2.85 BILLION Apache Corp., a Houston-based oil and gas producer,
said Monday it will pay $2.85 billion for the privately held Cordillera
Energy Partners III LLC, doubling its acreage in the energy-rich Anadarko
Basin. The cash and
stock deal, reportedly the largest in the United so far this year, will add
estimated proved reserves of 71.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe),
Apache said in a statement. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 23, 2012 PLUNGING NATURAL GAS PRICES PROMPT BIG CHESAPEAKE SHIFT Chesapeake Energy Corp., the nation’s second-largest natural
gas producer, scaled back its dry-natural gas operating plans Monday in
response to the lowest natural gas prices in the past 10 years. The company
announced it is slashing its dry-gas rig count in half to about 24 rigs by the
second quarter of this year. This means its rig count in both the Haynesville
Shale and Barnett Shale will drop to six operated rigs each. Its dry gas
rigs in the Marcellus Shale of northeastern Pennsylvania will drop to 12. The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Texas Energy Report |
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January 20, 2012 CRADDICK DRAWS SIZABLE FUNDS FROM MIDLAND/ODESSA Seven of every
10 large campaign contributors to Christi
Craddick’s bid for Texas Railroad Commission hail from
either Midland or Odessa, a survey of her campaign finance report filed this
week shows. In announcing
that Craddick has raised a total $759,741.27 for her race to replace outgoing Railroad
Commission Chairman Elizabeth
Ames Jones, Craddick’s campaign noted that her funds came from “441
contributors all across the state of Texas.” The Rest of the Story, Subscribers Only By Polly Ross Hughes |
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January 20, 2012 IS KEITH STONE FOR KEYSTONE XL? The National
Journal asks if the makers of the beer Keystone Light from Coors
Brewing Co. are worried about confusion with Keystone XL, the
1,700-mile tar sands pipeline proposed by TransCanada. President Obama rejected the
pipeline in its present form this week, but he mentioned nothing about a
possible appearance of Keystone Light at his next Beer Summit. If the
pipeline gets built, we’d like to see a poll on the beer of choice for pipeline
construction workers. Here’s
the story. By Polly Ross Hughes |
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Copyright February 03, 2012, Harvey Kronberg, www.texasenergyreport.com, All rights are reserved Texas Energy Report is owned and operated by Texas Energy Analysts
©Texas Energy Analysts., 2009-2011
All rights reserved.