Latest news with #energyregulation
E&E News
7 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
White House nominates energy attorney Laura Swett to FERC seat
President Donald Trump nominated energy attorney Laura Swett to fill Chair Mark Christie's term-limited seat on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday. Swett will have to get through Senate confirmation to join the commission. The White House has not yet indicated who it will designate FERC chair after Christie departs. Swett, a litigation counsel at the law firm Vinson & Elkins, previously served as an oil pipeline adviser to former FERC Chair Kevin McIntyre and Commissioner Bernard McNamee, who wrote the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 section on FERC. Advertisement Swett's nomination indicates the White House will not be renominating Christie to the commission, though he could be appointed to fill another commissioner's seat at a later point. A Republican from Virginia, Christie is considered to be one of the most experienced energy regulators in the country and was first nominated to FERC by Trump in July 2020. 'I learned this evening from a media inquiry that Pres. Trump has appointed Laura Swett to replace me when my term expires,' Christie wrote Monday evening on the social media site X. 'I congratulate Laura and wish her the best. I will remain in office for a few weeks after June 30 to help get key orders out.' Neil Chatterjee, who served as FERC chair in the first Trump administration, called the news 'bittersweet' on X. 'I adore Laura Swett and believe she will be an excellent chair (if given the chance by OIRA and OMB). But [Christie] is a patriot. All he did was run the agency well. He's a veteran who has dedicated his life to serving America. He deserved better,' Chatterjee wrote. Swett has a cumulative six years working at FERC, first as an enforcement investigator and later as an adviser to McNamee. McNamee's section of the Project 2025 report laid out an energy strategy for the second Trump administration. Under it, commissioners would be barred from favoring carbon-free power or justifying costs for 'advancing vague 'societal benefits' such as climate change.' It called for an end to long-range grid planning, leaving it to states. And it called on FERC to focus exclusively on electric reliability by remaking the way markets price electricity, revaluing coal, gas and nuclear power so they compete with cheaper sources of wind and solar power. The chapter further criticized FERC Order 2023, which would help clear backlogs of mostly renewable energy projects waiting to connect to power grids. McNamee wrote that the order 'will make it less economical for reliable, dispatchable resources like coal, nuclear, and natural gas to stay operational and support reliability.' For his part, then-Commissioner Christie called Order 2023 'progress' and voted for it two years ago.
Globe and Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Coalition files appeals against Alberta Energy Regulator over orphan well clean-up costs
A coalition of Alberta landowners, scientists and others has filed a regulatory appeal against the province's energy watchdog, arguing that the agency has consistently failed to collect enough money from oil and gas companies to cover the substantial cost of cleaning up orphan wells. The group, called the Coalition for Responsible Energy, has filed two appeals against the Alberta Energy Regulator. One is a regulatory appeal. The other is a reconsideration, a rarely used tool that asks the AER to reconsider the amount it collects from industry for a cleanup fund. If the AER fails to do so, the group says, it will launch a legal battle through the Alberta Court of Appeal. The application has been made on behalf of Dwight Popowich, who for the past 26 years has lived on a 75-acre parcel of recreational farmland near the town of Two Hills, roughly 140 kilometres east of Edmonton. Alberta wants to accelerate cleanup of oil and gas wells with taxpayers as backstop, document shows Sequoia Resources Corp. drilled a well in the middle of an alfalfa field on his land in 2008. That well stopped producing in 2012. Six years later, the company said it was ceasing operations, and would be unable to cover the cost of looking after or cleaning up its more than 3,000 wells and pipelines. But it wasn't until Jan. 30 of this year that the AER directed the Orphan Well Association, which manages oil and gas sites that don't have a legally or financially responsible party, to take control of the company's assets – including the well in Mr. Popowich's alfalfa field. 'They walked away from cleaning up the well on my land and thousands of others. We don't know if the well is safe. We don't know if it's leaking. Nobody's showing up to even take a look at it,' Mr. Popowich said Tuesday. 'Farmers and landowners across Alberta like me trusted the oil and gas companies to clean up these wells on our lands once they've stopped producing, but many energy companies have betrayed Albertans and dumped their cleanup duties onto everyone else.' At the heart of C4RE's challenge is the orphan levy, which the regulator collects from oil and gas companies to fund the OWA. The group wants the AER to increase that levy to cover the cost of cleaning up sites for which the OWA is responsible. The levy was set at $144.45-million for the 2025-26 fiscal year. But that represents just 12 per cent of the $1.2-billion in closure liabilities and loans currently held by the OWA, according to an analysis by Drew Yewchuk, a former staff lawyer with the University of Calgary's Public Interest Law Clinic and an expert in liabilities regulation. Pointing to a March, 2023, Auditor-General's report, Mr. Yewchuk wrote that the AER's failure to adequately supervise the orphan program is a central reason for Alberta's massive orphan liability crisis, and the backlog of unreclaimed orphan sites currently on the books at the OWA. How did the regulator choose $144-million this year as the levy amount? 'We still don't know,' Mr. Yewchuk said, because 'the AER set the levy as they have always done – behind closed doors, with no public consultation and without hearing from the people who were most impacted." Mr. Yewchuk said Tuesday that the AER's approach to the orphan levy 'has been a catastrophic failure' that has essentially let oil and gas companies decide how much they want to pay each year for orphan well cleanup. In response to questions from The Globe and Mail about the regulatory appeal, the AER outlined its process for setting the levy, adding that the amount for 2025-26 was up 7 per cent from the prior fiscal year. But Mr. Popowich said the OWA has told him and other landowners that they will have to wait another 10 to 12 years for their wells to be cleaned up because it doesn't have enough funds. Alberta has some of the best laws governing oil and gas in the world, he said, but the sector simply isn't following them when it comes to funding orphan well cleanup. 'We are Albertans. We have certain rights. We should be treated with the same respect the producers are. We're not, and landowners are getting very upset out there.'
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Energy bills to rise by up to 9.7% as Australian regulators approve price increases
Power bill increases of upwards of 9% have been locked in for some Australian households as energy regulators make a final call on safety net prices. Caps on what retailers can charge households and businesses in NSW, South Australia, southeast Queensland and Victoria are designed to protect the hundreds of thousands of customers who tend to set-and-forget their power plans. Roughly 9% of households and 18% of small businesses are on default market offers. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email NSW customers on standing offers face the steepest price growth of somewhere between 8.3% to 9.7%, depending on their network area. Some users in the state could be slugged with an $280 extra annually from 1 July. Regulators update default market offers to reflect the cost retailers are paying generators for electricity and to have it transported through poles and wires. Australian Energy Regulator (AER) chair Clare Savage said NSW was experiencing bigger increases in wholesale costs and transmission than other states. 'In NSW we've seen some unexpected outages of coal-fired power stations, which can drive up that wholesale cost,' Savage told ABC Radio on Monday. She also flagged boosted investment in networks to make them more resilient to cyber attack and climate risks, such as the floods devastating parts of NSW. Other states covered by the AER's remit are in line for more modest increases, though Savage said wholesale and network costs rose in most jurisdictions. Residential customers on default plans in southeast Queensland can expect hikes of anywhere between 0.5% and 3.7%, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3% to 3.2%. Victorian households can expect a modest 1% average bump, according to the Essential Services Commission, with some distribution zones actually in line for small drops in prices. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Households and businesses nervous about energy bill hikes have been urged to shop around, with 80% of customers likely to save money by chasing better deals. The energy minister, Chris Bowen, acknowledged power prices were putting pressure on households and businesses, pointing to extended bill relief in the last budget. 'It's clear energy bills for Australians remain too high, and we're providing help for people doing it tough as we deliver longer term reform.' He also urged people to shop around, with savings of up to 27% possible by switching to a competitive market plan. Energy Consumers Australia chief executive officer Brendan French said the safety net system was not working effectively if priced as much as 27% above market offers. 'The sector should be focused on reducing costs at all stages of the supply chain, and making networks as efficient as possible, otherwise consumers risk losing the benefits of the energy transition,' French said.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Guyana lawmakers pass bill making companies liable for oil spill damages
GEORGETOWN (Reuters) -Guyana's parliament passed an oil pollution bill late on Friday that holds parties liable for damages caused by oil spills, including from vessels. The bill, which passed with a majority of votes cast in a simple voice vote, is expected to soon be signed into law by President Irfaan Ali. Guyana, whose oil production is controlled by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium is expected to surpass 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. The South American country is trying to reinforce oversight of its nascent energy industry, where all crude and gas output comes from offshore fields. The legislation stipulates that responsible parties provide financial assurance to cover spills, conduct regular inspections and audits, and address any issues found. It also includes penalties for companies that fail to comply with regulations, including the suspension of licenses to explore and produce oil for those that do not provide the financial assurance required. Guyana, whose oil production is controlled by an Exxon Mobil-led consortium is expected to surpass 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. Last year the country became Latin America's fifth largest oil exporter after Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia. The Exxon group, which includes U.S. Hess and China's CNOOC, produced an average of 631,000 bpd of oil in the first quarter, 3% higher than in the same period last year.
Reuters
17-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Guyana lawmakers pass bill making companies liable for oil spill damages
GEORGETOWN, May 17 (Reuters) - Guyana's parliament passed an oil pollution bill late on Friday that holds parties liable for damages caused by oil spills, including from vessels. The bill, which passed with a majority of votes cast in a simple voice vote, is expected to soon be signed into law by President Irfaan Ali. Guyana, whose oil production is controlled by an Exxon Mobil-led (XOM.N), opens new tab consortium is expected to surpass 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. The South American country is trying to reinforce oversight of its nascent energy industry, where all crude and gas output comes from offshore fields. The legislation stipulates that responsible parties provide financial assurance to cover spills, conduct regular inspections and audits, and address any issues found. It also includes penalties for companies that fail to comply with regulations, including the suspension of licenses to explore and produce oil for those that do not provide the financial assurance required. Guyana, whose oil production is controlled by an Exxon Mobil-led (XOM.N), opens new tab consortium is expected to surpass 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year. Last year the country became Latin America's fifth largest oil exporter after Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia. The Exxon group, which includes U.S. Hess (HES.N), opens new tab and China's CNOOC ( opens new tab, produced an average of 631,000 bpd of oil in the first quarter, 3% higher than in the same period last year.
