Natural Gas

FERC Rule on Coordination of Natural Gas and Electric Scheduling Finalized as Industry Interdependency Grows

The electric industry is becoming increasingly reliant upon natural gas as a fuel source in the midst of our nation’s abundant natural gas resources and aggressive regulatory efforts to reduce the environmental impact of power plants.  The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently reported that the use of natural gas as a fuel for electric power … Continue reading →

FERC Technical Conferences Examining EPA Clean Power Plan Are Underway

At the close of 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) announced that it would hold a series of technical conferences to examine issues surrounding compliance with the Clean Power Plan proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) last June.  FERC was urged by members of Congress to hold the conferences in order to do … Continue reading →

Natural Gas Pipelines to Bolster Bi-Directional Capacity in Northeast up to 32%, EIA Data Shows

By 2017, natural gas pipelines are projected to convert up to 32% of their pipeline capacity into the Northeast to support the bi-directional flow of natural gas out of the region to the South and West, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) December 2, 2014 report.  It is well known that the increased … Continue reading →

EIB Energy Highlights: SCOTUS Review of EPA Mercury Regs, LNG Exports, World Energy Outlook, New EPA Regs & More

The Other Side of LNG Exports: Alaskan Exports to Free Trade Countries Approved

The capability of the U.S. to enter the global energy market as a net natural gas exporter has been the subject of much discussion, given the number of years that applications seeking approval to export liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S. (“non-FTA countries”) have … Continue reading →

NAESB Response to FERC NOPR re: Coordinating Schedules of Natural Gas and Electricity Markets Subject to Public Comment until November 28th

Coordinating the scheduling of the natural gas and electricity markets has been a priority for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), given the increasing dependence of the electric industry on natural gas as a fuel source. In March, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making re: Coordination of the Scheduling Processes of Interstate Natural … Continue reading →

Natural Gas Infrastructure Development in Focus to Support Shift from Traditional Supply and Flow of Gas

Last year we started our discussion of the developing shift in flow of natural gas from the traditional South-to-North/West-to-East path to a North-to-South/East-to-West path as a result of the abundance of natural gas now being produced out of the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions.  We highlighted the impact that this reversal in gas flow would … Continue reading →

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exports from Louisiana and Florida Approved by DOE, While Alaska LNG Project Makes Progress

Shortly after finalizing its revised procedures for reviewing pending liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) export applications, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued final authorizations for two facilities to export LNG to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States (“non-FTA countries”).  You can read our previous post for details regarding changes … Continue reading →

The Future of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Exports under the Department of Energy’s Revised Review Process

During the last two years, we have seen the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) pick up the pace in granting conditional authorizations for companies to export liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States (“non-FTA countries”). Despite the DOE’s increased stride in reviewing outstanding applications, … Continue reading →

EPA & SCOTUS on GHG: U.S. Supreme Court Makes a Statement on EPA Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gases as the Public Comment Period for EPA’s Clean Power Plan Gets Underway

The last few weeks have brought significant developments in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. On June 18, 2014, the EPA published for public comment a proposed rule to implement the Clean Power Plan that it announced on June 2, which seeks to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing … Continue reading →