Top News
FirstEnergy, Exelon identify nuclear plants that failed to clear PJM auction
Three nuclear plants that FirstEnergy Corp. has said it will retire were among generating units that did not clear the PJM Interconnection's 2021/2022 capacity auction.
Pa. judge orders Mariner NGL pipelines stopped, questions Sunoco's priorities
A Pennsylvania judge issued an emergency order suspending operations and construction on the Mariner East family of NGL pipes across Pennsylvania, saying developer Sunoco Pipeline LP put profits over safety.
Trump 'dismantling the regulatory state' to revive coal, Interior adviser says
A U.S. Department of the Interior official assured an audience of coal supporters that the agency is "dismantling the regulatory state brick by bureaucratic brick to revive coal."
NextEra deal with Southern fits both companies' playbooks
Recent transactions by NextEra Energy Inc. and Southern Co. demonstrate the immediate focus by the two integrated utility giants on recalibrating strategic priorities to achieve longer-term balance sheet flexibility.
Power
* Great Plains Energy Inc. and Westar Energy Inc. can combine their operations under a new holding company with a combined equity value of nearly $15 billion after regulators in Kansas and Missouri approved their proposed merger May 24.
* The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2019 energy and water development spending bill of approximately $43.78 billion, which is $7.24 billion more than President Donald Trump's budget request.
* A review of 12 S&P Global stock market indexes suggests that while global financial market participants overall are making progress toward curbing emissions, the weighted-average carbon intensity profiles of the companies on most of the benchmarks increased in 2017.
* The Trump administration explored various options for dealing with federal climate studies in 2017, including discussing the possibility of simply ignoring climate change studies, The Washington Post reported, citing a White House memo. Other options included developing "a coherent, fact-based message about climate science."
* Citing the unprecedented nature of the ISO New England's request for permission to enter into a reliability must-run agreement to keep two units of Exelon Corp.'s Mystic Generating Station operational, stakeholders warned federal regulators about the potential pitfalls of expanding the use of those agreements to address fuel security concerns.
* Wind farm operators can expect to see an 11% increase in their rate of return if they repower aging turbines this year as the federal production tax credit is set to reduce again in 2019 before expiring in 2020, Bloomberg News reported, citing a report from ICF International Inc.
* Gemma Power Systems LLC completed the 475-MW Middletown Energy Center in Ohio and dispatched the plant to the grid May 21. The facility is majority owned by NTE Energy.
Natural gas/Oil
* Gas utilities and their regulators are still working through the implications of tax code changes, but some company executives already see the related decrease in customers' bills as an opportunity to invest in infrastructure.
* The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a pair of challenges to the provincial government's approvals for Kinder Morgan Inc.'s C$7.4 billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, The Financial Post reported.
* Supporters of the 1.5-Bcf/d Atlantic Coast pipeline project asked Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam to encourage the state's Department of Environmental Quality to support existing water quality permits so construction can continue.
* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked the Bureau of Land Management to consider a delay in opening land near Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park for oil and natural gas drilling, The Denver Post reported.
* Castleton Commodities International LLC closed its acquisition of NorTex Midstream Partners LLC from funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners. NorTex owns and operates 36 Bcf of working gas capacity and the associated Tolar Hub.
Coal
* Total U.S. coal rail traffic for the week ended May 19 slipped less than 1% year over year to 78,519 carloads, according to data from the Association of American Railroads.
* Contura Energy Inc. reported net income of $58.3 million, or $5.66 per share, in the first quarter, compared with $31.0 million, or $2.89 per share, in the first quarter of 2017.
* Cloud Peak Energy Inc. significantly reduced its maximum borrowing capacity with its lenders but extended a 2019 maturity date of its credit facility by three years.
Commodities
* Next-day power prices could step higher Friday, May 25, as traders look to generally stronger demand outlooks on the return from the extended Memorial Day weekend. Markets will be closed May 28 for the holiday.
* After ending the prior session with a 2.6-cent gain at $2.940/MMBtu, NYMEX June natural gas futures slipped in technical selling overnight before returning higher ahead of the Friday, May 25, open amid lingering fundamental support.

New from RRA
* In testimony filed with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on May 24, the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor recommends that AES Corp. subsidiary Indianapolis Power & Light Co. be authorized a $4.9 million, or 0.4%, electric base rate increase, versus the $96.7 million increase supported by the company.
* The Oregon Senate on May 23 confirmed Democratic Gov. Kate Brown's appointment of Letha Tawney to the Oregon Public Utility Commission for an unexpired term ending May 2020. Tawney was appointed to fill the commissioner vacancy left open as a result of Democrat Lisa Hardie's departure May 23.
Quoted
"Sunoco has made deliberate managerial decisions to proceed in what appears to be a rushed manner in an apparent prioritization of profit over the best engineering practices available," Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Barnes wrote in her May 21 order halting operations on the Mariner East 1 pipeline and construction on Mariner East 2 and 2X, which run roughly parallel across the state.
The day ahead
* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. equity markets. To view more SNL equity market indexes, click here. To view more SNL Energy commodities prices, click here.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
