In April, three liquefied natural gas tankers—Gaslog Hong Kong, Gaslog Gibraltar and Clean Ocean—passed through the Panama Canal on the same day. This was a first since the waterway’s $5 billion expansion two years ago, demonstrating the boom in the global gas trade. As new export facilities pop up from the United States to Australia, buyers in Asia are increasing their demand for LNG. “You’re going to have a lot of these plants up and running, and you need the logistics to get those cargoes” through the canal, Sam Margolin, lead analyst at Cowen and Company LLC in New York, told Bloomberg News. The increased traffic “should make people feel a lot more confident about the U.S.’ ability to place LNG in China.”
New Jersey Natural Gas has filed with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in an effort to expand its energy efficiency offerings for customers. The goal is to help customers save money, manage their energy usage and reduce emissions. Additionally, NJNG proposed a new solar program at its facilities, which would allow the utility to offer energy savings to low-income households. NJNG plans to invest more than $341 million in the six-year program, and customers will fund $302 million over the next 30 years. Participating customers can expect to receive anywhere from 1 to 30 percent savings, depending on the program, yielding $605 million in savings over 30 years. “Energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to help customers save energy and money, protect our environment and create a stronger and fairer clean energy economy,” said Laurence M. Downes, chairman and CEO of NJNG.
The International Gas Union, the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers and IPIECA have signed on to the Methane Guiding Principles, part of a broader-scale commitment by the global energy industry to ensure that natural gas plays an ongoing role in meeting future energy demand while helping to improve air quality and challenge climate change. Eleven companies have already signed on to the principles, including BP, Eni, ExxonMobil, Gazprom, Qatar Petroleum, Repsol, Shell, Statoil, Total, Wintershall and Woodside. “Numerous scientific studies have shown how important it is to quickly reduce methane emissions so we can meet growing demand for natural gas while achieving climate change and clean air goals,” said Mark Radka, head of UN Environment’s Energy and Climate branch.
Southern California Gas Co. and clean-energy startup Opus 12 have announced the success of a new process that converts the carbon dioxide in raw biogas to methane in a single electrochemical step. This development is critical for upgrading biogas to pipeline-quality natural gas, and it provides an easier way to convert excess renewable electricity into storable natural gas. The research is part of SoCalGas’ power-to-gas, or P2G, technologies, which provide innovative ways to store excess renewable energy. Since this allows gases to be easily stored for long periods of time using existing infrastructure, P2G technology is a vast improvement to storing renewable electricity in batteries. “Southern California has ideal conditions for this type of solution, with significant biogas resources and high penetration of renewable electricity,” said Opus 12 CEO Nicholas Flanders.
The proposed merger of Dominion Energy Inc. with SCE&G and its corporate parent, SCANA Corp., could give South Carolina’s economy a $18.7 billion boost, said a University of South Carolina report. The study, conducted by University of South Carolina research economist Dr. Joseph Von Nessen, explains that the merger represents an economic multiplier of 1.49: For every $100 of savings provided to customers via the merger, $149 of new economic activity will be generated. According to Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy chairman, president and CEO, “The payments and the extra money in customers’ pockets from the lower rates will flow into the local economy in the form of billions of dollars in increased retail sales, new jobs, added wages and business investment.”
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America has approved the “INGAA Commitments to Pipeline Security,” a document that pledges INGAA members to actions that ensure a strong and secure pipeline infrastructure. The new commitments detail industrywide security standards, guidelines and information-sharing resources, with the ultimate goal of helping further secure pipelines against cyber and physical security threats and natural disasters. “Natural gas pipeline operators view safety and security as essential to fulfilling their role as the critical link between the nation’s natural gas producers and consumers,” INGAA President and CEO Don Santa said.
A 110-year-old DTE Energy site and former Michigan Consolidated Gas Company industrial site will be transformed into a public park and mixed-use development. The 11 acres along the Huron River in Ann Arbor will become Broadway Park, a development with retail, a boutique hotel, a restaurant and condominiums that tap into the site’s historic heritage. Additionally, 9 acres of the parcel will be naturally preserved as open space and green infrastructure, including 1,200 feet of restored Huron River shoreline and an 8,000-square-foot year-round event pavilion.
Two utilities were recently honored for lifesaving work by their employees—but it isn’t the kind of work you might expect. The New York Blood Center recently presented PSEG Long Island and National Grid with a joint award for their employees’ 2017 blood donations. “By donating nearly 5,300 pints of blood last year, PSEG Long Island and National Grid together have saved more than 15,000 lives,” said Carolyn Cestaro, NYBC account manager.
Ameren Corp. has been promoting the work of diverse suppliers in the St. Louis metropolitan area by annually awarding local business owners with business development scholarships to attend the Minority Business Executive Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Recipients are selected based on their strategic relationship with Ameren and the supplier’s success in providing service to a variety of companies in Ameren’s 64,000-square-mile service territory.