Top News
As partner and rival, private equity surges into US energy pipeline funding gap
The amount of private equity flowing into the oil and gas pipeline industry has skyrocketed in recent years, with transaction totals going from just under $4.3 billion in 2015 to $9.4 billion in 2017 as public companies have avoided issuing public capital.
'Unintended consequences': Tariffs may boost US coal use but threaten exports
New steel and aluminum tariffs may benefit U.S. coal producers' domestic sales, but the move also threatens a recent improvement in overseas demand for metallurgical coal.
Companies see challenges coaxing suppliers into reporting, curbing emissions
Companies that aim to curb their indirect greenhouse gas emissions said one big challenge to reaching that goal is finding ways to coax suppliers to track, report and ratchet down their own emissions.
Power
* Since Energy Secretary Rick Perry proposed a sweeping grid resilience rule to protect coal and nuclear generators from retirement, the nation's grid operators have been contemplating what resilience is and how it differs from reliability.
* Duke Energy Corp. is set to release a climate report later this month that may include updates about its future energy mix, including the company's complete transition away from coal-fired generation by 2050, Axios reported.
* An S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Form 1 data shows that the cost of producing power in the U.S. has declined for electric utilities over the past decade. At the same time, transmission and distribution expenses have risen sharply.
* A Maryland House of Delegates committee turned down a proposal to ban wind farm construction within 30 miles of Ocean City's coast, The Baltimore Sun reported.
* U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt violated the law when he failed to issue all area designations for the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone in October 2017, a U.S. district court judge has found. He therefore ordered the EPA to finalize those designations by April 30, with limited exceptions for several areas of the country.
* The U.S. National Academies has released its review on the draft U.S. National Climate Assessment, which indicates that temperatures in the country will "rise markedly in the coming decades," The Washington Post reported.
* Avangrid Renewables LLC is accelerating plans to build a wind farm off the North Carolina coast as early as 2025, the Triangle Business Journal of Raleigh, N.C., reported.
* E.ON SE will be cutting 5,000 jobs in connection with its blockbuster deal with RWE AG for a majority stake in innogy SE, Bloomberg News reported.
* As the newly elected chair of the bipartisan Coalition of Northeastern Governors, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said that he is launching the Energy Initiative that will focus on identifying ways to make energy costs more affordable through regional coordination.
* A Colorado bill that declares electricity consumers have the right to install and use energy storage systems on their property now awaits the signature of Gov. John Hickenlooper. The bill also directs state Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules governing the installation, interconnection and use of customer-sited energy storage systems.
Natural gas/Oil
* New Jersey legislators asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its approval of PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC's 1.1-Bcf/d natural gas project that will connect Marcellus Shale supplies to East Coast markets.
* A court let stand Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decisions that booted New York out of the permitting process for a Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC natural gas lateral to a CPV Valley power plant in New York, affirming rulings that allowed the gas project to move past a delay at the state level and into the construction phase.
* The Baltimore City Council passed a bill that bans the construction of new or expanded crude oil terminals in the city, according to The Associated Press. The bill still needs the approval of Mayor Catherine Pugh.
* Archrock Inc. shareholders and Archrock Partners LP unit holders will separately meet April 25 to vote on the companies' proposed merger. Shareholders and unit holders of record at the close of business March 14 are entitled to vote at the respective meeting.
* Breitburn Energy Partners LP is hoping for a court confirmation of its $3 billion bankruptcy exit plan as early as this month, after it reached an agreement with holdout creditors, Reuters reported.
* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a settlement with Philadelphia Energy Solutions that allows the refiner to satisfy only half of the about $350 million in compliance costs under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, according to Reuters.
Coal
* As metallurgical coal markets continue to show strength after recent improvement, S&P Global Market Intelligence talked to Alpha Natural Resources Inc. CEO David Stetson about the future of Alpha and the coal industry.
* Wyoming lawmakers approved a budget that reinstates two-year funding for the state Environmental Quality Council, the Billings (Mont.) Gazette reported. Some lawmakers have raised concerned over the council after it denied a coal mining permit for a Ramaco Carbon LLC subsidiary last fall, the report noted.
Commodities
* The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that the growth of shale output of natural gas and crude oil will continue in April, with gas output climbing for the 15th consecutive month to come in 19.8% above the same month a year earlier.
* After climbing by 4.6 cents in the week's opening session to settle at $2.778/MMBtu, NYMEX April natural gas futures extended higher overnight ahead of the Tuesday, March 13, open, as revisions to temperature forecasts show stubborn cold expanding in scope.
* Power dailies could chop around Tuesday, March 13, as traders consider diverging demand forecasts for midweek.
* Total U.S. nuclear plant availability was pegged at 88.36% early March 12, down from 90.59% on March 9 and below the 90.02% rating reported on the same day in 2017.

New from RRA
* Pivotal Utility Holdings Inc. filed a settlement agreement in the company's pending rate case on March 12 that, if approved, would increase base rates by $11.5 million, effective June 1.
Quoted
"A commodity is only worth something if you can get it to market," Daniel Jaeggi, the co-founder of Mercuria Energy Trading SA, said on reports that pipeline constraints could limit the ability of oil and gas producers in the Permian Basin industry to continue to grow.
The day ahead
* The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. ET to examine President Donald Trump's budget request for Interior Department for fiscal year 2019.
* 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.
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