Natural Gas

Regarding "Natural Gas From Overseas Sources Is Raising Concerns," Sept. 21: The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to approve my order establishing natural-gas quality standards for investor-owned utilities, including Southern California Gas Co. With liquefied natural gas expected to enter our state within the next two years, it is crucial that we act now to put in place more restrictive natural gas quality specifications to...

As energy companies seek to plumb vast reserves of underground oil in California through the controversial drilling technique known as fracking, voters are concerned about its safety and uneasy with the state's lack of oversight, according to a new poll. More than half of voters - 58% - say they favor a moratorium on the process of injecting chemicals deep into the ground to tap oil and natural gas deposits embedded in rock until an independent commission has studied its environmental effects.

Government scientists believe Alaska's North Slope has huge deposits of frozen natural gas that current technology could extract, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The report estimates that more than 85 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the form of gas hydrates -- methane gas locked in water as an ice-like solid -- eventually may be recoverable, but cautioned that further research was needed.

Utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric should pay a record $2.25-billion penalty for a 2010 natural gas explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people and devastated a neighborhood, regulators recommended Monday. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, it would be by far the largest penalty ever levied by the agency. The PUC's largest fine up to now was $38 million, charged against PG&E for a 2008 natural gas explosion in Rancho Cordova. A report released Monday by the Commission's Safety and Enforcement Division said its investigators found more than 100 violations by the company, some dating back decades.

Utility regulators have approved $350 million in rebates to encourage Californians to install water-heating systems powered by solar energy. The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday established the California Solar Initiative Thermal Program, which will be funded using $250 million to replace natural-gas-powered water heaters, with $25 million set aside for low-income customers. An additional $100.8 million will be used to swap out water heaters powered by electricity. The rebates could reduce the cost of a solar water heater by 15% to 25%, industry experts said.

A music video about "fracking"? Last week, Time magazine named a funny video about the natural-gas extraction process called fracking the No. 2 most creative video of 2011. It may be fun to say, but fracking is hard on the environment and local water safety, and that's the message behind this video, which has now gone viral and has over 200,000 views on YouTube. “It's a word you hear but you don't exactly know what it means or what it all entails. So I think it helps get people interested in the topic, and hopefully, if they watch the video, they'll go read an article about it or find out more information about what it is and what the effects are,” says Lisa Rucker, an editor in Los Angeles for  production company Pictures in a Row. She called from a set in Kentucky where she was helping to shoot a commercial.

An explosion apparently caused by natural gas ripped a 40-foot section from a motel Sunday, injuring 31 people. The blast occurred four minutes after someone phoned Montana-Dakota Utilities and reported a strong smell of natural gas, said Dick Blee, the acting Billings fire chief. Firefighters controlled the blaze within three hours. "We have witnessed a miracle," Fire Department Capt. Marvin Jochems said after searchers accounted for all 60 people registered at the three-story Super 8 Motel.

The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine announced a deal early today to settle the gas dispute that has reduced supplies of Russian gas to Europe for nearly two weeks. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Ukraine will pay 20% less than the European price for the gas this year. It is still a substantial increase for Ukraine. Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said natural gas supplies would resume once the two countries' gas companies sign a contract. It was not clear how soon this would happen.

Plastic is anathema to many among the eco-conscious — but what if manufacturers could stop making so much of it from oil and start making more of it from plants? In a study in the journal Science, researchers in the Netherlands say they have developed a class of iron catalysts that help turn plant material — such as fast-growing trees and certain grasses — into the chemical building blocks used to make plastic products, drugs and even cosmetics. Plastic typically is made from a crude oil derivative and therefore depends on Earth's finite oil supplies.

Gale Swan has lived for 62 years by the eastern slope of the hills below where La Cienega Boulevard and La Brea Avenue crest a few miles south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The upscale homes that spider down these curving streets offer enticing views of the Los Angeles Basin. Yet, Swan is worried. She has been through L.A.'s heavy winter rains and the 1963 collapse a few neighborhoods away of the Baldwin Hills Dam. But now the foundation of her 1946 house in View Park has cracks.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan Tuesday to begin moving away from coal-fired energy, despite warnings from a Department of Water and Power watchdog that the shift could cost more than $650 million. Like many utilities, the city-owned DWP gets more of its power from coal than from any other source. But last month, after a lengthy campaign by environmentalists, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and utility officials announced a plan to end the city's reliance on coal two years ahead of a state-mandated deadline.

Weeks after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated his plan to move the city off of coal-fired energy, a city watchdog has attached a giant price tag to the initiative. Fred Pickel, the ratepayer advocate at the Department of Water and Power, said Monday that eliminating coal from the utility's power mix ahead of a state-mandated deadline is projected to cost more than $600 million. What that could mean for ratepayers' electricity bills is unclear, he said. Pickel said he would urge city officials to look for ways to lower the costs Wednesday at a meeting of the City Council's Energy and Environment Committee.

Weeks after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa celebrated his plan to speed up the end of the city's reliance on coal-powered energy, a city watchdog has attached a giant price tag to the initiative. Fred Pickel, the ratepayer advocate at the Department of Water and Power, said Monday that eliminating coal from the utility's power mix ahead of a state-mandated deadline is projected to cost more than $600 million. He added that it was unclear how much the charge would increase the electricity bills of ratepayers.

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency says greenhouse gas emissions in the United States showed a 1.6% decline from 2010 to 2011. The decrease continued an overall decline in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, down 6.9% since 2005. The EPA said the drop from 2010 to 2011 is driven mostly by power plants switching from coal to natural gas, which emits less carbon dioxide when burned. Additionally, a mild winter in the south Atlantic region of the U.S., where much of the heating is electric, resulted in lower electricity demand.

WASHINGTON - The Senate approved REI Chief Executive Sally Jewell Wednesday as the new secretary of the Interior by a vote of 87 to 11.   Jewell, 58, had faced tough questioning by some Senate Republicans during her confirmation hearing in early March. But in comparison to some Obama Cabinet nominees, she sailed through the committee and full Senate votes. A Washington outsider, Jewell began her career as a petroleum engineer before moving into banking and, finally, taking the helm of REI, the outdoor equipment retail chain based in Washington state.

General Motors is recalling 26,582 model year 2013 Cadillac SRX crossovers and Buick LaCrosse sedans to fix a software problem that could allow the vehicles' transmissions to slip suddenly from manual to automatic mode. Information posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website said that the software problem may cause the transmissions to inadvertently shift to sport mode, removing any transmission-related engine braking effect. The NHTSA said that the risks of a crash are increased if engine braking is unexpectedly removed.

Carl Harberger's 6,000-square-foot Chatsworth house is equipped with six refrigerators, five TVs, a smattering of computers and a pool, among other things — enough to draw the wagging finger of the eco-minded if it were not for what Harberger has on his roof. By the end of the month, the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is expected to flip the switch on the home's 24-kilowatt installation of thin-film solar panels, bringing to life what is believed to be the largest residential installation of its kind in the country.

Political leaders from both parties argue that natural gas could save our economy, the environment and promote our national security. Is this so? Or is it just a dream? It turns out that the way one develops natural gas will determine whether it is a serious help to our energy and climate problems, or a dangerous extension of bad habits. On the face of it, natural gas looks terrific. The United States — and many other countries — have abundant domestic supplies. The cost, per delivered unit of energy, is about a third of that of oil. It is cheap and fast to build power plants fueled by natural gas. And when burned, it emits only half as much carbon as coal.

Los Angeles officials are speeding up plans to end the city's reliance on coal-powered energy, a move that could help Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's drive to burnish his legacy as an environmental leader. On Tuesday, commissioners at the Department of Water and Power moved forward with plans to dump the utility's interest in a coal-burning plant in Arizona and convert another one in Utah to natural gas. The plants provide nearly 40% of the city's energy. The changes, coupled with new commitments to renewable power, would make the city coal-free by 2025, utility officials said.