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NH siting board denies Northern Pass permit; Sabal Trail pipe could be in limbo

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NH siting board denies Northern Pass permit; Sabal Trail pipe could be in limbo

Top News

NH siting board denies application for Eversource transmission project

The New Hampshire Site Evaluation Committee on Feb. 1 voted unanimously to deny the application for Eversource Energy's proposed Northern Pass transmission line one week after Massachusetts picked the $1.6 billion project as the winning proposal for the supply of emissions-free electricity.

DC Circuit stands by rejection of Sabal Trail approvals, puts pipeline in limbo

In a move that pushes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and natural gas pipeline developers onto uncertain legal ground, a federal appeals court rejected FERC's plea not to strip authorizations from a major Florida pipeline project despite the commission warning about "disruptive consequences" of shutting down the gas conduit.

Murray Energy CEO warns of lingering headwinds for US coal despite Trump support

Kicking off the Coaltrans 2018 conference in Miami, Murray Energy Corp. CEO and founder Robert Murray offered strong praise for the first year of the Trump administration but warned of strong headwinds for U.S. thermal coal.

Power

* This is part two in a three-part series examining the factors inhibiting the addition of coal-fired generation capacity in the U.S. This story explores the policies that have boosted coal in China and the market conditions currently disadvantaging new capacity running on that fuel in the U.S.

* The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has cleared Dominion Energy Inc.'s proposed acquisition of SCANA Corp. in a stock-for-stock deal valued at about $7.9 billion, a development that satisfies one of the conditions to complete the proposed merger transaction.

* Deal activity in the competitive power sector appears to have entered a holding pattern in early 2018, as the remaining public merchant generators focus on executing restructuring strategies amid a broader shift toward private ownership.

* Rhode Island Democratic Rep. Aaron Regunberg introduced a bill that would impose a fee of $15 per ton of carbon emissions in the state, The Associated Press reported. The move comes on the heels of the newly formed, Carbon Costs Coalition, whose members include lawmakers from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

* Xcel Energy Inc. is facing public pressure in Colorado to retire more coal-fired power plants and replace them with renewable energy sources, The Denver Post reported. The residents testified before the state Public Utilities Commission and urged the utility to not recover plant retirement costs from its ratepayers.

* Toyota Group and Ares Private Equity Group expect to bring online the first phase of the planned 1,400-MW St. Joseph Energy Center in March, South Bend (Ind.) Tribune reported. However, the second phase of the project could be in limbo as it requires $500 million in additional investment and a 10-mile transmission line to connect to a substation in eastern LaPorte County.

* The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced that it will review and consider amending the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan to seek "greater opportunities" for renewable energy generation. The plan covers about 10.8 million acres of BLM-managed public land.

* NTE Energy signed a power purchase agreement with the town of McCormick, S.C., to supply all McCormick's electric needs for a period of 20 years, starting in 2019. NTE will supply power to the town from a portfolio of electric generation resources, including the planned Reidsville Energy Center.

* E.ON SE closed a tax equity financing of its 305.8-MW Radford's Run wind farm in Macon County, Illinois. Allianz Renewable Energy Partners of America and Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided the tax equity financing in exchange for a partial interest in Radford's Run.

* NextEra Energy Inc. plans to build a 99-MW wind farm in eastern Day County, S.D., The American News in Aberdeen, S.D., reported. The 41-turbine project is expected to go online in 2019.

Natural gas/Oil

* MPLX LP will look to grow its presence in the southwestern U.S. and seek opportunities in the long-haul transportation business, executives with the midstream energy master limited partnership said on their earnings call for the fourth-quarter of 2017.

* North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is leading a coalition of attorneys general from 11 other coastal states to call on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to cancel the proposed offshore drilling plan. "If the Draft Proposed Program is not terminated, we intend to submit, on or before March 9, 2018, formal comments, the attorneys general wrote in a letter to Zinke. "Among other things, our comments will detail the Draft Proposed Program's legal insufficiencies and the many harms that it would inflict on our states."

* The U.S. Bureau of Land Management updated its policy of oil and gas leasing on public lands to simplify the leasing process and the ensure quarterly oil and gas lease sales are consistently held in accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act. The agency plans to limit reviews to six months and shrink protests over leases from a month to only 10 days.

* U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth Dillon denied Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC's request for immediate access to the land it needs to construct the planned $3.7 billion gas pipeline, after Mountain Valley presented appraisals for just nine of the nearly 300 properties, The Roanoke (Va.) Times reported.

* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated the Canadian government's support of Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd.'s Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion, stating that the C$7.4 billion pipeline is "going to get built," Reuters reported.

* The Illinois Commerce Commission approved a $137.1 million, or 21%, gas distribution base rate increase for Northern Illinois Gas Co., about 38% less than the $208.5 million the utility originally requested.

* Natural gas flows to Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal ended January at the lowest level since September 2017 after water supply to the Louisiana facility was curtailed in response to a freeze that caused residential pipes to burst nearby.

* An undisclosed buyer has terminated a letter of intent to acquire Samson Oil and Gas Ltd.'s Foreman Butte project for $41.5 million after failing to complete its financing plan for the deal. Samson Oil and Gas now plans to proceed with a previously proposed $30 million refinancing to repay its existing lender in full.

* FTS International Inc., a provider of hydraulic fracturing services in North America, priced an upsized initial public offering of 19.5 million common shares at $18 per share. Of the total, FTS International will sell 15,151,516 shares a selling shareholder will sell the remaining 4,348,484 shares. The shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 2 under the ticker symbol "FTSI."

Coal

* Total U.S. coal rail traffic for the week ended Jan. 27 slipped by less than 1% year over year to 86,586 carloads, according to data from the Association of American Railroads.

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have finalized a proposal to delay the implementation date of the Clean Water Rule by two years.

* Murray Energy Corp. will continue to operate Armstrong Energy Inc. coal mines in western Kentucky's Muhlenberg and Ohio counties but will lay off some employees, according to a letter Murray sent to Armstrong personnel.

Commodities

* Goldman Sachs increased its outlook for Brent crude oil prices in 2018 with prices expected to top $80 per barrel by the middle of the year.

* Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative over-the-counter prices pushed higher during the final week of January amid news that New Jersey could re-enter the regional cap-and-trade program.

* After ending the prior session with a 13.9-cent decline to a finish at $2.856/MMBtu, NYMEX March natural gas futures ticked higher in buying at lows overnight ahead of the Friday, Feb. 2, open. At 7:10 a.m. ET, the contract was 4.4 cents higher at $2.900/MMBtu.

* Power dailies could end the workweek with losses Friday, Feb. 2, as generally softer demand expectations coming off the weekend combine with the recent weakness in natural gas.

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New from RRA

* On Jan. 31, Republican Commissioners Eric Skrmetta and Michael Francis were elected chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Louisiana Public Service Commission by their fellow commissioners. Chair and vice chair terms are typically for one year.

Quoted

"We know New York doesn't want that, New England doesn't want that and New Jersey is about to not want that," said Robert Flexon, CEO of independent power producer Dynegy Inc., referring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission model in which the lowest-cost megawatt is always delivered to the customer, during a panel at the S&P Global Market Intelligence Power and Gas M&A Symposium in New York City.

The day ahead

* Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower 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 is updated as of 7:30 a.m. ET. Some links may require registration or a subscription.