Our coverage of the CERAWeek conference by S&P Global in Houston, running from March 18 to March 22, continues with more updates. Today’s missive comes from the Innovation Agora, which is connected to the Executive Conference...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued show cause orders to two natural pipelines—Rover Pipeline and Midship Pipeline Company—following its December 2021 open meeting, and sent a related dispute involving Midship for...more
Cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure systems are nothing new. But events over the last few years have been notable due to the seemingly increased frequency of successful attacks and the way those attacks have been...more
The US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a final rule on November 2, 2021 expanding the applicability of the federal pipeline safety regulations to certain...more
In the eight months since Richard Glick took the helm of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a number of changes to federal regulation of the development of natural gas infrastructure are in the works and several...more
Nearly 200 comments were filed in response to FERC’s February 18, 2021 Notice of Inquiry (NOI) that sought new information and perspectives on whether it should revise its policy statement on the certification of new...more
6/21/2021
/ Determination of Need (DoN) ,
Electricity ,
Eminent Domain ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Justice ,
FERC ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement
Hydrogen has been widely touted as a solution to achieve ambitious emissions reduction goals. But in order to unleash hydrogen’s potential as a viable energy source to meet current targets, it needs to be produced in larger...more
As has been reported, a recent ransomware attack has caused an interstate pipeline and fuel supplier to much of the eastern United States to shut down its operations. Although the attack did not compromise operational...more
5/13/2021
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Hackers ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Supply Chain
FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of...more
3/22/2021
/ Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity ,
Clean Water Act ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Navigable Waters ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Section 401 ,
Tribal Governments ,
Water Quality
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on February 18 seeking new information and comments on whether it should revise its policy statement on the certification of new interstate...more
2/19/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Notice of Inquiry ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement
After severe winter weather forced Texas into experiencing power outages and rolling blackouts, there will likely be resulting federal and state investigations into the outages, federal investigations into commodity and...more
2/18/2021
/ CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Government Investigations ,
Natural Gas ,
NERC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Reliability Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Storm Damage
FERC Chairman Richard Glick announced his plans on February 11 to better incorporate environmental justice and equity concerns into FERC’s decision making process. Improving the process for reviewing and determining the need...more
2/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda
It’s been a difficult several days for the oil industry. First, the Biden administration revoked the border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20. Another executive order, among other things, directed the...more
2/1/2021
/ Bakken Shale ,
Biden Administration ,
Crude Oil ,
Dakota Access Pipeline ,
Easements ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Tribal Lands ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacated
Action, or in some cases inaction, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) during its last open meeting before the start of the Biden administration sent a strong message to the natural gas industry...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Agenda
Following its December 17 open meeting, FERC issued an order withdrawing and terminating a proceeding that had been opened earlier this year to examine oil pipeline affiliate contracts. FERC initiated that proceeding on...more
In response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice that it does not intend to...more
In response to the US president’s declaration of a national emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on March 20 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice to operators...more
A cyberattack on a single gas compression facility resulted in the shutdown of a natural gas pipeline for two days, according to a recent alert from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure...more
2/26/2020
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Emergency Response ,
Hackers ,
Information Technology ,
National Security ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Threat Management
A declaratory order issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) on January 30 in Docket No. RP20-41-000 grants pipeline developers greater certainty in planning and siting construction. The order was...more
2/7/2020
/ Asset Seizure ,
Construction Project ,
Eminent Domain ,
Energy Projects ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Land Developers ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Pipelines ,
Property ,
Property Ownership ,
Right of Way ,
Site Plans ,
State-Owned Enterprises
Recent developments over the last several weeks have intensified the ongoing struggle between the current administration of President Donald Trump and the federal judicial system concerning energy policy as it relates to the...more
The US Supreme Court has denied a petition for certiorari filed by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, which challenged a decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit concerning Pennsylvania’s water quality...more
Rate reductions across the natural gas sector could materialize as a result of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s ongoing investigation of benefits gained by the recent reduction in the federal corporate income tax...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently issued two orders intended to alleviate concerns that jurisdictional natural gas pipelines may be over-recovering cost-of-service rates due to (1) a reduction of the federal...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is seeking stakeholder comments through a Notice of Inquiry as it contemplates updating its policy statement on how FERC-jurisdictional facilities are reviewed and authorized....more
Over a half dozen natural gas rate proceedings are expected to be initiated in 2018, many of which will raise issues such as the impact of the new tax laws on rates and the inclusion of a pipeline modernization tracker in...more