A look back at successes and setbacks in the energy industry.

Highs

OCCIDENTAL/ANADARKO — Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Aug. 8 closed its $57 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. after Anadarko's shareholders approved the blockbuster deal. "With Anadarko's world-class asset portfolio now officially part of Occidental, we begin our work to integrate our two companies and unlock the significant value of this combination for shareholders," Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub said in a news release. Occidental's quest to purchase Anadarko lasted more than two years and kicked into high gear following Chevron Corp.'s offer for The Woodlands, Texas-based oil and gas producer.

Between

PG&E — Embattled California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co., or PG&E, told the federal bankruptcy court it plans to assume "all power purchase agreements" and service agreements with community choice aggregators under a forthcoming reorganization plan. In an Aug. 6 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, PG&E said its restructuring plan assumes "a substantial infusion of cash raised from existing equity holders" and "equity financed securitized bonds." The utility would use this financing to pay all court-approved pre-bankruptcy claims from wildfire victims, employees, trade groups and other creditors. PG&E also will approve all pension obligations and collective bargaining agreements, and indicated its plan will not raise customers' rates. Meanwhile, the board of directors for PG&E parent PG&E Corp. is evaluating a $15 billion financing proposal from hedge funds Abrams Capital Management LP and Knighthead Capital Management LLC to support the reorganization plan.

Lows

FIRSTENERGY SOLUTIONS — FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. on Aug. 9 announced it will accelerate the deactivation of the remaining 830-MW unit at its Bruce Mansfield coal plant in Beaver County, Pa. The company said it notified PJM Interconnection that it was moving the deactivation date of Bruce Mansfield unit 3 up to Nov. 7 from June 1, 2021, because of unfavorable market conditions. The bankrupt power provider shut down Bruce Mansfield units 1 and 2 in February.

MINE CLOSURES — Alliance Resource Partners LP said Aug. 9 it will stop producing coal from its Dotiki mine in Kentucky on Aug. 16 to focus on its lower-cost mines in the Illinois Basin. Alliance subsidiary Webster County Coal LLC operates the mine, which produced nearly 2.5 million tons of coal in 2018, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. "Unfortunately, weak market conditions made this action necessary," Alliance CEO Joseph Craft III said in the news release. "We are saddened that production will be ending at the Dotiki Mine, which was opened in 1969 and is the oldest mine operated by [Alliance]." Leading pure-play coal producer Peabody Energy Corp. recently announced plans to close its Somerville Central Mine in Oakland City, Ind., because of uneconomical business conditions.