EnergyRSS

  • August 7, 2008

    Utilities Settle Spat Over Clean Water Act

    Three utilities that own a coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek, Wis., have agreed to spend $105 million to protect Lake Michigan, and in return they will be allowed to keep a once-through cooling system that environmental groups alleged violated the Clean Water Act.

  • August 7, 2008

    Atmos Faces Safety Citations After Texas Blast

    After investigating gas leaks that ignited two suburban homes and ultimately killed a 71-year-old woman, oil and gas regulators in Texas have cited natural gas utility Atmos Energy and its subcontractor for eight alleged safety violations.

  • August 7, 2008

    Court Ups Damages In Nuclear Fuel Storage Suit

    Pacific Gas & Electric Co. succeeded Thursday in partially overturning a district court’s ruling on damages the U.S. Department of Energy should pay for violating a contract for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

  • August 7, 2008

    Judge Lets Some Claims Proceed In Mine Case

    A federal judge has allowed part of a proposed collective action against an Illinois coal mining company to go forward even though the U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit that duplicates some claims.

  • September 12, 2008

    Markets Prepare For Revamped CFTC Regulation

    The U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission was handed new powers to oversee energy trading as part of the massive farm bill passed on Capitol Hill earlier this year, a move some lawyers said will not greatly change the energy markets but should help level the playing field.

  • August 7, 2008

    EPA Denies Texas Biofuels Waiver

    Amid concerns over skyrocketing grain prices, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied the state of Texas' request for a waiver from the Renewable Fuels Standard, which mandates the use of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol.

  • August 7, 2008

    China's Sinochem Lands Rights To Indonesian Blocks

    Chinese state-owned Sinochem Corp. has reportedly agreed to purchase stakes in two oil and gas blocks for exploration in Indonesia.

  • August 6, 2008

    CFTC Adjusts Speculators' Oil Market Share

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has reportedly revised the number of oil futures contracts that it once thought were held by speculators, with the agency appearing to have inadvertently lowballed the amount by nearly 25%.

  • August 6, 2008

    Judge Won't Dismiss Charges Against Westar Execs

    A judge has rejected two former Westar Energy Inc. executives' double jeopardy argument in their bid for dismissal as they await retrial on accusations of attempting to loot Kansas' largest public utility.

  • August 6, 2008

    TNK-BP, Lukoil, Others Resist Russian Antitrust Probe

    Russia's competition watchdog is encountering road bumps in its crackdown on oil companies, with the agency revealing Wednesday that several prominent firms and their executives are refusing to provide data on fuel prices.

  • August 5, 2008

    E.ON, Gazprom Continue Joint Venture Talks

    Though negotiations with Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom have endured for more than four years, German energy company E.ON Ruhrgas AG remains optimistic about the plan for a joint venture.

  • August 5, 2008

    Oregon Officials OK New Solar Energy Facilities

    The Oregon Public Utilities Commission has ruled that solar energy projects run by third-party investors do not violate state law, giving the commission's blessing to planned solar projects run by Honeywell Inc.

  • August 5, 2008

    EPA Head Chastised By Union Officials At Agency

    Four union officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have lambasted Administrator Stephen Johnson for subverting the work of his staff by opposing measures to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

  • August 5, 2008

    N.J. High Court Makes Exception For Suing Counsel

    A New Jersey appeals court has given the go-ahead to a lawsuit in which a plaintiff sued his attorney for alleged malpractice that he says was a relevant factor behind his decision to settle earlier litigation.

  • August 5, 2008

    Environmentalists Drop Fight Against Coal Plant

    Environmental activists have dropped their opposition to NRG Energy Inc.'s plans to expand a Texas coal plant after the company agreed to offset some of the plant's greenhouse gas emissions and lower water usage at the plant.

  • August 5, 2008

    Alaska Attacks DOI's Polar Bear Listing

    The state of Alaska is seeking to overturn a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species, saying the listing will adversely impact such things as oil and gas exploration.

  • August 5, 2008

    Former FERC Chair Joins Husch Blackwell Sanders

    Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP has gained an additional expert in its energy practice group in James J. Hoecker, a former chairman of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission who left Vinson & Elkins LLP to join the firm as senior counsel.

  • August 6, 2008

    Judge OKs $150M SemGroup DIP Loan

    A bankruptcy judge has partially approved a request by energy company SemGroup LP for debtor-in-possession funding to help keep it afloat, signing off on a $150 million loan financed by a group of lenders headed by Bank of America.

  • August 4, 2008

    FERC Report Finds Xcel Energy Violated Agency Rules

    Xcel Energy Inc. has revealed that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a preliminary report alleging that the company violated FERC policies and rules related to the use of a transmission facility.

  • August 4, 2008

    SemGroup Subsidiary Tries To Block Financing Deal

    SemGroup Energy Partners LP, a publicly traded affiliate of beleaguered oil distributor SemGroup LP, has moved to block its parent company's bankruptcy financing, arguing that the proposed package offers the subsidiary little protection.