In response to growing customer demand for nearly 3 billion cubic feet per day of incremental firm receipt and delivery services, TransCanada will move ahead with a $2 billion expansion program for its NOVA Gas Transmission system. The program consists of a number of projects, including 273 kilometers, or 171 miles, of pipeline, 150 MW of compression at five compressor stations, new meter stations and other associated facilities. TransCanada is now filing applications for these projects with Canada’s National Energy Board.
Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas President and CEO Charles Matthews was joined by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval and other community leaders to commemorate the grand opening of Peoples Energy Training Center—a new training complex in Chicago’s Little Village community. The ultramodern facility will provide training to more than 1,600 area utility workers, annual classroom and simulation training for the Chicago Fire Department and in-demand vocational programming to prepare Chicago Public School students for careers in the gas and energy field.
At a ceremony in Louisiana this summer, Cheniere Energy Inc.—the sole exporter of liquefied natural gas from U.S. shale basins—kicked off a 20-year supply agreement with Korea Gas Corp. As the deal originally outlined when it was signed in 2012, Cheniere will make roughly 3.5 million tons of the fuel available for delivery to South Korea annually. South Korea was the world’s second-largest buyer last year after Japan, representing at least $548 million of annual revenue.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission voted in July to approve Atmos Energy Corp.’s purchase of the natural gas system in the town of Flora for $602,000. Rates and service will not change on the system, which serves 1,300 customers in Madison and Hinds counties. Paying roughly $40,000 in lease fees annually, Atmos and its predecessor had been leasing and operating Flora’s natural gas system since 1987. The town agreed to sell the system to Atmos last December.
Maine regulators approved the sale of Bangor Gas parent company Gas Natural Inc. this summer to a Cayman Island investment fund recently purchased by Blackrock Inc., a New York investment firm. By approving the deal, the Maine Public Utilities Commission confirmed that the sale would not affect Bangor Gas’ daily operations or have a negative impact on customers. The deal would also give Bangor Gas access to investment funds to expand service to new areas, make upgrades and replace outdated infrastructure.
Gas and electric customers in Oregon saved more than $396 million on their utility bills last year, according to the latest annual report from Energy Trust of Oregon, which serves customers of NW Natural, Avista, Cascade Natural Gas and electric utilities. The nonprofit works closely with utilities to ensure customers have access to energy efficiency programs, and 2016’s results exceeded its natural gas and electric energy efficiency goals. According to Michael Colgrove, executive director of Energy Trust, “Oregonians might be surprised to learn how much economic activity results from making smart energy choices. When people spend less on energy, they can spend more on their families, homes and businesses—freeing up resources that flow into communities, creating jobs and boosting wages.”
The Trump administration will honor its treaty obligation to provide the United Nations with U.S. greenhouse emissions data, despite the president’s decision to abandon the Paris Agreement, according to administration officials. The American Gas Association’s website touts the inventory to show that methane emissions from natural gas distribution systems declined 75 percent from 1990 to 2015.
Montana Dakota Utilities has gotten the green light from the North Dakota Public Service Commission to move forward with a project that will provide natural gas service to two counties and a manufacturing facility in Gwinner—a 700,000-square-foot Bobcat complex that is the company’s largest in the United States. The project is estimated to cost $13.8 million, and MDU will provide the service through the construction of a 12-inch, 21-mile pipeline in Ransom and Sargent counties. The service agreement approved by the PSC is for 15 years and will not result in a rate increase for other MDU customers. Once completed, it’s expected that the pipeline will have the potential to expand natural gas service to other key industries.
Disney Cruise Line has jumped on board with liquefied natural gas with the announcement that its fleet will grow from four ships to seven, expected to be up and running in 2021, 2022 and 2023. These new ships, on order with Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, will be fueled by LNG, which the cruise industry has begun to embrace as stricter maritime emission laws go into effect.