Energy Companies

It's not just Sandy. Sandy was off-the-charts terrible, a storm that broke every record in the books: for storm surge, for barometric pressure, for sheer size. But it also blew in toward the end of what will be the warmest year in U.S. history. It was a year that already had seen a summer-in-March heat wave described by meteorologists as the most statistically freakish weather event in the continent's history, an epic drought that raised grain prices 40% around the world and a record-setting melt of Arctic ice. It was a year in which scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who couldn't take the subway to their Manhattan offices in the days following Sandy, calculated that the 1-degree rise in global temperature we've already seen has raised the chance of extreme heat events by an order of magnitude.

California needs to strengthen regulation of hydraulic fracturing, according to a UC Berkeley Law School report that identified a number of shortcomings in state oversight of the controversial practice.    Known as fracking, the technique involves the high-pressure injection of chemical-laced fluids into the ground to crack rock formations and extract oil and gas. Although not new to California, the practice has come under increasing scrutiny recently...

California needs to strengthen regulation of hydraulic fracturing, according to a UC Berkeley Law School report that identified a number of shortcomings in state oversight of the controversial practice.    Known as fracking, the technique involves the high-pressure injection of chemical-laced fluids into the ground to crack rock formations and extract oil and gas. Although not new to California, the practice has come under increasing scrutiny recently...

WASHINGTON -- A coalition of energy companies, environmentalists and Pennsylvania-based philanthropies announced Wednesday the creation of a center that would provide more stringent standards for fracking and natural gas development in the Eastern United States. The Marcellus Shale formation, which extends from central New York to eastern Kentucky, is the site of a vast gas boom, most of it centered in Pennsylvania. But the production method of fracking, high-volume hydraulic fracturing that has tapped the gas deposits, has touched off concerns about the impact of such wide-scale industrial development on air and water quality.

SACRAMENTO - Under pressure from state lawmakers and environmentalists, Gov. Jerry Brown's administration released draft regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the controversial drilling process driving the nation's oil and gas boom. The proposed rules, released Tuesday, would require energy companies to disclose for the first time the chemicals they inject deep into the ground to break apart rock and release oil. They also would have to reveal the location of the wells where they use the procedure.

WASHINGTON -- A coalition of energy companies, environmentalists and Pennsylvania-based philanthropies announced Wednesday the creation of a center that would provide more stringent standards for fracking and natural gas development in the Eastern United States. The Marcellus Shale formation, which extends from central New York to eastern Kentucky, is the site of a vast gas boom, most of it centered in Pennsylvania. But the production method of fracking, high-volume hydraulic fracturing that has tapped the gas deposits, has touched off concerns about the impact of such wide-scale industrial development on air and water quality.

Re "Energy Dealings Ruled Illegal," Sept. 24: Now that we have proof that the energy companies manipulated the market, all Californians should demand an apology from Vice President Dick Cheney for his idiotic, self-righteous remarks last year blaming us for the crisis. Alex Magdaleno Camarillo

Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales decreed a takeover of leading Bolivian telephone company Entel after accusing the company of failing to meet commitments to expand phone network coverage. He also announced a $6.3-million deal with Spanish oil company Repsol, which will cede control of its Andina subsidiary to the government. The government will pay more than $37 million to acquire controlling stakes in three other energy companies.

Energy companies will avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. royalties normally owed on oil and natural gas drilled in the Gulf of Mexico because of language left out of the leasing contracts by mistake, the Interior Department told Congress on Wednesday.

Staking a claim to part of the state's phone business, Southern California Edison Co. this week became the first major energy company in California to seek approval to become a wholesale phone service provider.

SACRAMENTO - Under pressure from state lawmakers and environmentalists, Gov. Jerry Brown's administration released draft regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," the controversial drilling process driving the nation's oil and gas boom. The proposed rules, released Tuesday, would require energy companies to disclose for the first time the chemicals they inject deep into the ground to break apart rock and release oil. They also would have to reveal the location of the wells where they use the procedure.

Re “Cut their power,” Opinion, Nov. 9 The largest oil and gas companies are already “energy” companies, as author Bill McKibben defines it. Chevron, for instance, is the largest geothermal power producer in the world. Instead of proposing to “break the power of the fossil fuel industry” to reduce global warming, as McKibben suggests, we should try a more realistic approach: Show them that embracing renewable technology makes good economic sense. The Department of Energy needs oil and gas companies to partner with geothermal companies to “co-produce” electricity from the waste heat inherent in oil and gas production.

It's not just Sandy. Sandy was off-the-charts terrible, a storm that broke every record in the books: for storm surge, for barometric pressure, for sheer size. But it also blew in toward the end of what will be the warmest year in U.S. history. It was a year that already had seen a summer-in-March heat wave described by meteorologists as the most statistically freakish weather event in the continent's history, an epic drought that raised grain prices 40% around the world and a record-setting melt of Arctic ice. It was a year in which scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who couldn't take the subway to their Manhattan offices in the days following Sandy, calculated that the 1-degree rise in global temperature we've already seen has raised the chance of extreme heat events by an order of magnitude.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - One day after President Obama put forward a proposal to extend tax cuts for the middle class and Mitt Romney attacked the plan, the presidential rivals took to swing states to press their views. Romney, the unofficial Republican nominee, participated in a question-and-answer session with voters in a heavily Republican part of Colorado, as he sought to highlight the continuing struggle to bring back jobs to a particularly hard-hit region of the country.

The European Union, which buys 90% of Syria's oil exports, has slapped sanctions on the nation's oil and gas industry, but loopholes allow European energy companies to pull back only gradually from buying heavy crude or doing lucrative work in Syrian oil fields. Syria's other key trading partners, including Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, have maintained economic ties with Damascus even as Syrian troops and tanks have killed thousands of people since a popular uprising began in March.

Bankruptcy. FBI raids. General ignominy. For the benighted solar energy company and stimulus loan recipient, Solyndra, the next stop in its vale of tears will be a hearing this Wednesday in Washington held by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. For the Record, 12:46 p.m. Sept. 12: An earlier version of this online article stated that Solyndra got a $535-billion loan guarantee from the Energy Department in 2010. The correct number is $535 million, as was also mentioned in the article.

California agencies and utilities today will urge federal regulators to reconsider a March 26 decision on how much energy companies should refund the state for overcharges during the electricity crisis, contending that the decision failed to take into account key evidence of misconduct. In a request for a new hearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the California parties will argue that the new evidence of market manipulation they submitted this year was ignored by FERC.

SACRAMENTO -- Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer accused four energy companies Tuesday of gouging Californians and demanded at least $2 billion in penalties. Lockyer filed four lawsuits in state court alleging violation of California's business and professions code. The suits are the latest in a series of actions by Lockyer to recoup money Californians paid for electricity in 2001. They won't be the last, he said.

House Republicans are pressing forward with a probe into a $535-million loan guarantee to a California-based solar panel manufacturer, charging that the Obama administration may have improperly awarded the loan to a company whose major investor was a bundler for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. The company, Solyndra Inc., announced earlier this week that it will file for bankruptcy, putting 1,100 employees out of work and likely leaving taxpayers on the hook for much of the massive loan.

At a time when many nonprofits are struggling to remain afloat, watching contributions sputter amid an ailing economy, two small Bay Area charter schools are having a banner year, with hundreds of thousands of dollars gushing into their coffers. Big energy companies, telecommunication interests and Indian tribes are lining up to write checks. So are unions, Sacramento lobbyists and Hollywood celebrities. Many of these donors have something to gain in addition to the warm feelings and tax deductions that come with helping a worthy cause: a chance to get in the good graces of Gov. Jerry Brown.