U.S. Senate hearing on LNG export, pipelines, solar, smart grid tomorrow 2015-05-14

Many energy infrastructure bills to be considered tomorrow, some apparently bad: S. 411 — Natural Gas Gathering Act “To authorize the approval of natural gas pipelines and establish deadlines and expedite permits for certain natural gas gathering lines on Federal land and Indian land.” That one proposed by the same Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso who complained about conflicts of interest for former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff until he resigned; the same Senator who didn’t like that new FERC Chair Norman Bay mentioned sun first among New Mexico’s abundant energy resources. Sourcewatch says “John Barrasso has voted in favor of big oil companies on 100% of important oil related bills, according to Oil Change International.”

Some bills to be considered tomorrow are apparently good: S. 1237 – To amend the Natural Gas Act to limit the authority of the Secretary of Energy to approve certain proposals relating to export activities of liquefied natural gas terminals and S. 1242 – Regional Gas Consumer Protection Act, both by Sen. Angus King of Maine. Sourcewatch refers to a PBS bio, which says, “In the 1980s, King served as Vice President of a company that developed alternative energy projects in New England. In 1989, King founded Northeast Energy Management, Inc. The company developed, installed, and operated large-scale electrical energy conservation projects at commercial and industrial facilities throughout south-central Maine.”

Any or all of these bills could become law, so study and action may be needed.

Hearing on Energy Infrastructure Legislation, 10 AM 14 May 2015:

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to receive testimony on energy infrastructure legislation.

  • S. 411, the Natural Gas Gathering Enhancement Act
  • S. 485, the APPROVAL Act
  • S. 1017, to amend the Federal Power Act to improve the siting of interstate electric transmission facilities, and for other purposes
  • S. 1037, to expand the provisions for termination of mandatory purchase requirements under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
  • S. 1196, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to grant rights-of-ways on Federal land
  • S. 1201, to advance the integration of clean distributed energy into electric grids, and for other purposes
  • S. 1202, to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to assist States in adopting updated interconnection procedures and tariff schedules and standards for supplemental, backup, and standby power fees for projects for combined heat and power technology and waste heat to power technology, and for other purposes
  • S. 1207, to direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program under which the Secretary shall make grants to eligible partnerships to provide for the transformation of the electric grid by the year 2030, and for other purposes.
  • S. 1210, to provide for the timely consideration of all licenses, permits, and approvals required under Federal law with respect to oil and gas production and distribution
  • S. 1213, to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 and the Federal Power Act to facilitate the free market for distributed energy resources.
  • S. 1217, to establish an Interagency Rapid Response Team for Transmission, to establish an Office of Transmission Ombudsperson, and for other purposes.
  • S. 1219, to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide for the safe and reliable interconnection of distributed resources and to provide for the examination of the effects of net metering
  • S. 1220, to improve the distribution of energy in the United States
  • S. 1225, to improve Federal land management, resource conservation, environmental protection, and use of Federal real property, by requiring the Secretary of the Interior to develop a multipurpose cadastre of Federal real property and identifying inaccurate, duplicate, and out-of-date Federal land inventories, and for other purposes
  • S. 1227, to require the Secretary of Energy to develop an implementation strategy to promote the development of hybrid micro-grid systems for isolated communities
  • S. 1228, to require approval for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance of oil or natural gas pipelines or electric transmission facilities at the national boundary of the United States for the import or export of oil, natural gas, or electricity to or from Canada or Mexico, and for other purposes
  • S. 1231, to require congressional notification for certain Strategic Petroleum Reserve operations and to determine options available for the continued operation of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  • S. 1232, to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to modify provisions relating to smart grid modernization, and for other purposes
  • S. 1233, to amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to expand the electric rate-setting authority of States
  • S. 1237, to amend the Natural Gas Act to limit the authority of the Secretary of Energy to approve certain proposals relating to export activities of liquefied natural gas terminals
  • S. 1242, to amend the Natural Gas Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider regional constraints in natural gas supply and whether a proposed LNG terminal would benefit regional consumers of natural gas before approving or disapproving an application for the LNG terminal, and for other purposes
  • S. 1243, to facilitate modernizing the electric grid, and for other purposes

Thanks to Debra Johnson for discovering this hearing.

-jsq

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