The recent memoranda of understanding (“MOUs”) entered between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (”CFTC”) made significant progress towards alleviating the long-time tension between the two agencies. On January 2, 2014, the FERC and the CFTC signed two MOUs on jurisdiction (“Jurisdiction MOU”) and information sharing (“Information Sharing MOU”)… Keep reading →
Northern Illinois residents are challenging natural gas distributor – Nicor Gas – in a class action suit that alleges the company misrepresented to customers the benefits of its gas-line insurance program, known as ComfortGuard, for which they paid a $60 annual fee. The utility recorded millions of phone calls over the course of a decade… Keep reading →
Up to 150,000 b/d of Bakken crude oil currently passes through Albany via rail and/or barge on its way to East Coast refineries and other destinations. Read Breaking Energy coverage of rail transport capacity expansion at the Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery in New Jersey here. Some are concerned about the crude oil transport increases Albany… Keep reading →
As the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Innovation Summit came to a close, energy leaders were challenged to take innovation to the next level. Innovation shouldn’t just be about inventing new technologies, it should also involve bringing ideas from the lab to the market. This message about the need to commercialize new energy technologies was… Keep reading →
One of the biggest hurdles biofuels need to overcome is replicating the energy density of liquid transport fuels at lower cost. It’s been said that a scientist will never say something is impossible given unlimited funding. Unfortunately, the most brilliant theoretical energy innovations remain confined by economic realities. Breaking Energy recently covered the potential for… Keep reading →
Originally published at TheBreakthrough.org and syndicated in partnership with TheEnergyCollective.com The case against using trees and crops as fuel for cars and power plants has grown stronger in recent years. The expansion of corn for ethanol in the American Midwest has worsened water pollution and soil erosion, and has had no benefit in terms of reduced emissions. Europe’s… Keep reading →
This concluding article in a 3-part series details Gazprom’s changing European natural gas export strategy as it bumps up against EU regulations designed to promote market liberalization by unbundling energy production, transmission, delivery and storage from single-company ownership. The new Gazprom-designed gas transit system outlined earlier in this series – here and here – is not… Keep reading →
In recent years we’ve regularly disagreed with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) on the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) because its ethanol mandates could harm consumers and the broader economy. The conversation with Big Ethanol has been, well, spirited. That said, hats off to RFA for including an oil and natural gas industry executive as one of the keynote… Keep reading →
The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) took a historic step late last week, unanimously approving an Order that requires Con Edison to implement state-of-the-art measures to plan for and protect its electric, gas, and steam systems from the effects of climate change. This announcement regarding the future of New York State’s largest utility comes… Keep reading →
Many Americans lack knowledge on key energy issues, which could be problematic when they vote later this year for congressional representatives who will shape the country’s energy policies. “What is the solution to this ongoing problem of voters not having sufficient energy knowledge? It is information. Women and men need to understand both sides of the… Keep reading →
