Energy & Water

The start up setting new trends in water delivery for oil and gas: Sourcewater

The business goal: Connecting oil and gas with industrial water supply, including finding, transporting, and recycling water

The niche: Fracking obtains its industrial water supply largely by word of mouth

MIT News | Startup offers “online booking” for industrial water

The House Committee Natural Resources Committee interim committee report makes these recommendations:

• Water Markets:
  • Regional planning groups should be encouraged to work together & across regions for new sources of water.
  • “Direct groundwater conservation districts to set and enforce easy to digest rules for water markets in their area.”
• Desalination
  • TWDB should continue to review the feasibility of seawater desalination 
• Regional Water Planning
  • Noting the complexity of the situation, the committee recommends that regions be required “to more thoroughly assess & address particular types of strategies or planning approaches. “
• Aquifer Storage
  • “Texas should promote more aquifer storage and recovery projects throughout the state to prevent freshwater loss. “

House Committee on Natural Resources December 2016

What’s the Trans Pecos Pipeline?  A West Texas pipeline that will deliver natural gas to Mexico & the pipeline cost will be paid by Mexico so it can power electricty plants

What characteristics of the Trans Pecos pipeline that draw parallels with the Dakota Pipeline protest?

• Landowners talk about court awards in the millions that they won but that are unpaid.
  • The pipeline is appealing the awards.
• Native Americans are getting involved to protest in Texas
• The Texas land includes some of the last legacy ranch land in the US
• The Trans Pecos goes through Big Bend Park

What do I need to know about the protest camps?

• Started forming in mid-December
• 3 Camps.
  • 1 near Alpine
  • #2 camp near the ghost town of Casa Piedra called Two Rivers Camp
  • #3 camp near Toyahvale, near the Balmorhea State Park & its water springs
• spearheaded by Big Bend Defense Coalition, an environmental advocacy group
• The Society of Native Nations, a group based in San Antonio & key to the North Dakota protests, is involved

Fronteras | Dakota Pipeline Standoff Echoes In Texas: Mexico Still Counting On US Natural Gas

Ft Worth Star Telegram | Protesters opening camps to protest West Texas drilling and pipeline

What 6 things do I need to know about the Port of Houston and the volume of plastics resin moving through the port?

• 45.7% of the overall US volume of 335,329 TEUs moves through the Port of Houston
• #2 is New Orleans at 13.6%
• Cheap natural gas has led analysts to estimate that resin traffic will boom to 500,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units of annual US resin exports
• In 2017, new polyethylene will start moving through the port, with an estiamted production of 9.4 million metric tons a year of new polyethylene from 2016 to 2021
• 10 yers ago Los Angeles and Long Beach had a slight edge over Houston
• In the last 10 years, Houston has doubled its resin exports by:
  • expanding Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals
  • deepening the channel
  • improving road and rail connections

Journal of Commerce | US ports’ battle for resins will intensify in 2017

Platts | US ports prime themselves for expected uptick in petchem exports

Mexico’s demand for natural gas keeps increasing & its all in the numbers:

• 25% increase in daily pipeline exports to Mexico in August 2016
• The August 2016 increase is also 85% above the daily average from 2011 to 2015
•  7.3 billion cubic feet per day is the current natural gas export rate
• $34 billion in investment over 35 years for the most recent auction of Mexico’s formerly controlled Gulf drilling
• Mexico is adding 12 new pipelines with a capacity of 9.7 billion cubic feet of gas per day

San Antonio Express News | Mexico’s growing appetite for U.S. natural gas

Which Houstonian launched a $1B clean energy fund in Houston? John Arnold

The fund:  Breakthrough Energy Ventures

The roots of the fund:  Breakthrough Energy Coalition consisting of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, George Soros + others

Breakthrough Energy ventures will invest in: early and mid-stage companies that have an impact on greenhouse emissions and provide a financial return for the fund

Houston Business Journal | Houston billionaire, others launch $1B clean tech energy fund

State: Virginia

Solar Coalition Goal : Utilities + Solar look to add 40 MW to Dominon’s grid & up to 10 MW for Appalachian Power grid.

What regulatory bonuses are included?

• expidited permitting
• 1st solar power purchase agreement in Virginia + no cost shifting to rate payers

Utility Dive | Virginia utilities back legislation to open solar opportunities, including community solar

The project denied eminent domain: An oil pipeline through rural Ohio

What were the judge’s objections?

• The company pointed to a $237.3 Million economic boon and the court said economic development is not a reason for eminent domain
• The pipeline provides no direct benefit or service to Ohioans.
• The common carrier statute that applies to pipelines like this is an unconstitutional infringement on the property rights of Ohioans

Legal Trends in the Rust Belt meet Legislative Trends in the Southeast and Beyond.

Sentinel Trribune | Court rules Kinder Morgan can’t use eminent domain for pipeline

The state: California

The state agency: California Energy Commission

The regulations: energy-efficiency standards for computers and monitors sold in the state, including:

• After 15 minutes of inactivity the monitor turns off
• After 30 minutes of inactivity the computer enters sleep mode

Regulatory history: Proposed in March 2015. Phased introduction of standards from Jan. 1, 2018, to July 1, 2021.

Energy savings: 

• 2,332 gigawatt-hours a year
• $373 million annually in utility bills
• Will be able to power 350,000 homes for a year

Sacramento Bee | California adopts nation’s first energy-efficiency standards for computers, monitors

The city: Hastings, Nebraksa

The target property to acquire: Utility poles owned by Windstream

The public purpose: Acquiring a secure the means of distributing electricity to the citizens of Hastings without relying on a 3rd party for repair

Hastings Tribune | Council approves eminent domain for utility pole ownership

The Irrigation District: Engelman Irrigation District

The State Auditor report:

• Financial Concerns. Need to be able to pay the bills.
  • ​insufficient controls to meet financial obligation
  • sales revenue went down 60.5% from 2014 to 2016
• Statutory Concerns. Need to be able to follow the law. The district did not:
  • “determine what percentage of the District’s maintenance and operating expenses should be covered by its various rates”
  •  “develop written policies and procedures in most key business areas”
  •  “approve budgets in a timely manner”
  • ” sufficiently bond its board members.”
• The district’s cost to get water went up 130%

State Auditor Report 17-017

New publication on Mexican deregulation: ICIS Mexico Energy Report

The Texas pipeline site: Trans Pecos Pipeline

The protests: 3 members of the Big Bend Defense Coalition were arrested 

What’s different between the North Dakota protests and the Texas protests? The Texas protest doesn’t have a hook that includes water contamination of Native Americans

Breitbart | 3 Arrested at West Texas Energy Pipeline Construction Site

• there should be competitive nuetrality in software systems
  • right now on-sit, in-house software is a capital expense, cloud computing is not
• can help utilities streamline operations by providing easy to update and always up-to-date software
• can help utilities cut costs of installation and integration
• the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners passed a resolution supporting it

Utility Dive | Why NARUC wants state regulators to incentivize utility cloud computing

Which state’s utility is entering the EV charging station market? California

What do the 3 proposals approved by the California PUC look like?

• One EV charging plan will be wholly utility owned
• One EV charging plan will have independent charger providers
• One EV charging plan will be a hybrid with utility and independent ownership

The regulators concern? Whether utility owned EV charging stations hamper competition and freezes out indpendent ownership in the EV charging market

Utility Dive | How PG&E’s EV charging pilot will test utility ownership models

Wind energy provided 15% of Texas power supply on Sunday, November 27, 2016. 

How has wind energy been stacking up?

• In 2015, the daily average for wind was 11.7% of ERCOT
• IN 2016, wind is expected to be 14.7% of ERCOT

ERCOT | Wind generation output tops 15,000 MW in ERCOT region

Breaking Energy | Wind Surges To Nearly 15 Percent Of Texas Power Supply

Who sponsored the poll? University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

Who participated? 3,000 homeowners in Florida, Texas and California

What do the homeonwers prefer, in order of preference?:

• incentives for water efficient equipment
• more practical conservation information
• easier identification of water-efficient appliances
• better landscape irrigation ordinances

Science Daily | Homeowners want incentives to conserve more water, survey shows

What one step allowed Nebraska’s Central Platte Natural Resources District to thwart a ransomeware attack? Their computer system backsup every 15 minutes.

SC Media | Nebraska irrigation district thwarts ransomware attack with automatic backup

SB 177 by Van Taylor, the Majority Rights Protection Act.

The economic benefits: Estimated to bring 1000s of jobs back to Texas

The change from current law: Currently 100% of mineral rights owners must agree to secondary or tertiary drilling. SB 177 lowers 100% threhold to 70%.

The opponents: 

• The 4th attempt at unitization changes.
• Previous changes haven’t made it out of a legislative chamber
• It amounts to a taking of property without compensation

RigZone | Texas Bill Would Give Super Majority Rights to Drill Old Wells

The current standard to be considered an active well:  10 barrels of oil or 100,000 cubic feet of natural gas per month for at least 3  consecutive months

The new standard for active wells: five barrels of oil or 50,000 cubic feet of gas per month for 3 consecutive months

Midland Reporter Telegram | RRC relaxes requirements for plugging inactive wells

Where is there talk of sharing economy arriving in energy? Australia

How will sharing enter the energy market? micro-grids in peer-to-peer rating and community-focused energy systems

Renew Economy | Why sharing solar is the next big thing in energy industry

Where: Michigan

The regulators who want to impsoe data security standards on utilities: Michigan Public Service Commission

What data security requirements would be added to utlities?

• require annual reporting that overivews:
  • utility cybersecurity programs
  • staffing numbers
  • describes employee training
  • explains cybersecurity threats that have been experienced

Washington Times | State wants rules to toughen utilities’ cybersecurity

The Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development interim report offers the following oil theft legislstive recommendations: 

• Consider enhancing penalties for oil field theft & oil laundering
• Narrowly tailor the crimes. Do not rely on prosecutorial discretion.

The 155 page Senate Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee interim report offers 3 recommendations for expedited TCEQ permitting. It also offers 708 footnotes.

• If the EPA adopts e-notice rules, Texas should too
• Consider appropriating TCEQs request for staff for the expedited permitting
• Consider eliminating the contested case hearing and replace it with a notice and comment process with an EAB style appeal process

   

   

Who made the announcement: U.S. Geological Survey

The new oil & gas deposit’s name: Wolfcamp shale

Where is the huge deposit located? Permian Basin

Amount estimated in the layer cake of oil and gas? 20 billion barrels of oil and 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas

• That’s 3 times bigger than North Dakota’s Bakken Shale
• That’s 3 times more than to fuel the entire country for a year
• Current vlaue: $900 Billion

had there been drilling in the area before? Yes. But not with horizontal wells or fracking

NPR | USGS Announces Largest Oil And Gas Deposit Ever Assessed In U.S.

FDNY is adapting policies to handle fires concerning energy storage batteries. 

Policy considerations:

• thermal control requirements of Li-ion batteries
• testing and validation standards of batteries
• what type of fire surpression system is necessary to handle these types of fires
• the connection to renewable energy goals

Utility Dive | As energy storage explodes in New York, officials tackle safety measures

A bill in Ohio, authored by a Republican, seeks to lower the renewable energy standards.

How much does the bill lower renewable energy benchmarks for utilities?

• 17% by 2017 benchmark for investing in renewable energy & for energy efficiency
• the current renewable benchmark is 22%
• no penalties could be incurred until after 2020

Ohio SB 320 

Columbus Dispatch | Ohio Senate bill would trim green energy goals

1st, Mexico is a key market for natural gas that supported prices during the price downturn.

2nd, Pipelines are currently being built to Mexico to support the hungry Mexican energy market.

3rd, Mexico’s import of natural gas is greater than its production beginning the summer of 2016.

Petroleum World | Trump’s Mexico stand could press gas prices

+26 House: 

• Valoree Swanson
  • Baylor. Concerned Women of America. Real Estate Broker.
• Shawn Thierry
  • Attorney. Howard Univ. & South TX College of Law. Big Borther Big Sisters.
• Mary Ann Perez
  • U of H. Insurance. Former HCC Trustee.
• Jarvis D. Johnson
  • Former Houston Council Member. Restraunteur & Consultant African Trade. Texas Southern.
• Tom Oliverson
  • Anesthesiologist. Home Schools. Baylor College of Medicine.
• Briscoe Cain
  • U of H. South Texas College of Law. Raised working class. 
• Kevin Roberts
  • Texas Tech. Riased by Grandparents in Amarillo. COO Lanier Lawfirm.
• Barbara Gervin-Hawkins
  • Univeristy of Eastern Michigan. Sister of NBA Player George Gervin. Together founded community center and charter school.
• Tomas Uresti
  • Former School Board member. Legal Assistant. Uresti Law Firm.
• Philip Cortez
  • UT Austin. Working on PhD in Educational Administration. Fraternal Order of the Eagles.
• Diana Arevalo
  • Executive Director for an after school affordable music program. Former DNC staff. BBA from UTSA.
• Victoria Neave
  • Attorney. Texas Southern University. Community Service focused on the elderly.
• Lina Ortega
  • UT Austin. Attorney. Helped Created El Paso Co. Code of Ethics. 
• Kyle Biedermann
  • Univ. of South Florida. Small Business Owner. Primary Win touted by Empower Texas.
• Stan Lambert
  • Abilene Christian Univ. SMU. Former Banking Exec. Athletic Director at Abilene Christian. Former School Board Trustee.
• Lynn Stucky (Mr.)
  • Veterinarian.  Kansas State. Former School Board Trustee.
• Mike Lang
  • Grew up on a farm in Illinois. TCU. Retired law enforcmeent officer.
•  Hugh Shine
  • Held the seat 30 years ago. Sam Houston State. Army retired after 30 years of service. Colonel Shine.  MBA Baylor.
• Scott Cosper
  • Former Mayor of Killeen. Former City Council member. Cosper Custom Homes and Construction. Member of the Texas Department of Transportation Policy Board for 16 years
• Gina Hinojosa
  • UT-Austin. George Washington Univ. Attorney. School Board Trustee. 
• Justin Holland
  • City Council Member. Mayor Pro Tem. Realtor.Texas Tech.
• Terry Wilson
  • Combat veteran. Retired from Army after 30 years. Touted by Empower Texas/
• Ernest Bailes
  • Texas A&M. Whitetail deer genetics company founder. Served on an Appraisal Board.
• Jay Dean
  • Former Mayor of Longview. The mayor who paid to stop Ted Nugent from performing a 4th of July concert. LSU.
• Cole Hefner
  • Former Upshur Co. Commissioner. Independent Insurance Agent. Pilot.
• Lance Gooden
  • Will be his 3rd session. UT Austin. Business Development Consultant.

+3 Senate: 

• Dawn Buckingham
  • Volunteer firefighter. UT-Austin. Lake Travis ISD trustee.
• Borris Miles
  • Sam Houston State. Former law enforcement officer. 
• Bryan Hughes
  • UT-Tyler. Baylor School of law. Supported by the Lt. Gov. during the 2016 primary.

• Reduction of federal energy regulations will boost oil and gas industry
• Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton says fair trade for Texas natural gas will be secure
• Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton says transportation for petro products will also improve so more goods get to market with less cost

Trump has also voiced support for these Texas energy practices and projects

• supports fracking
• supports Keystone XL and may lift the Obama Administration ban

Texas Lawyer | Texas Law Firm Leaders Focus on Energy, Mexico Relations Amid Trump Win

Dallas Morning News | Will President Trump be good for the Texas oil and gas industry?

Duke Energy moves to plug-in electric pickup trucks in their fleet.

Wall Street Journal | Utility Warms Up to Electric Vehicles

U.S. military  hackers have penetrated Russia’s electricty grid in repsonse to Russian attempts on U.S. infrastructure.

NBC News | U.S. Govt. Hackers Ready to Hit Back If Russia Tries to Disrupt Election

Which election? Tulare County supervisor in the heart of California’s agricultural land

What position did the winner take? ” regulation of groundwater is an attack on private property rights.”

What is the election victor’s partisan identification? Republican, active in the Tea Party

What is the groundwater goal of the winner? To overturn California’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act with the help of a coalition of counties

Fresno Bee | Smith beats Crocker for Tulare County supervisor seat

Who: A Virigina landowner, whose land could be impacted by a pipeline

Is doing what? Defending the pipeline. The landowner says that federal agencies, and not landowners, should determine whether a pipeline is a public benefit.

What elese does this landowner say about eminent domain? “without eminent domain, there is no civilization”

What do opponents say? “We are fighting against taking our property for profit.”

NBC 29 WVIR | Property Owner Defends Pipeline, Says He’s in ‘Silent Majority’

For the win: Fracking ban passes

What is measure Z? A fracking ban with a restriction on the use of water byproducts 

On which County ballot does his measure appear? Monterey County, California

How is it playing out?

• The opposition has outspent backers roughly 30 to 1
• Opposition spending totals nearly $5.5 million
• Oppositoin includes Chevron Corp. and Aera Energy LLC, a joint venture between Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Wall Street Journal | U.S. Voters Decide on ‘Fracking’ Ban—Energy Journal

San Jose Mercury Journal  | Fracking ban: Environmentalists declare victory on Monterey Measure Z

• Texas’ job growth trippled in the 3rd quarter
  • That’s a full point higher than the national average
• Oil sector losses are at near 0 for a second month in a row
• Texas has positive economic trends in manufacturing, service industries and retail
• Single family home proices are up 6.1% year over year

Houston Chronicle | U.S. turns in healthy October job growth, while Texas pulls out of its slump

On Tuesday, a new ERCOT rule went into effect requiring  requiring energy producers to notify the Department of Defense before connecting to the Texas power grid.

How did the new ERCOT rule develop? A windfarm in Witchita Falls was believed to encroach near Sheppard Air Force Base.

Times Record | New ERCOT rule in effect

Florida has a solar issue on the ballot? Yes, it would measure would ensure that third-party ownership of distributed solar remains illegal according to Utility Dive.

Who is for the proposition? utility companies

How do the opponents want to nullify the proposition? Opponents say a newly discovered recording shows that the ballot measure is intended to be vague and deceptive

Welcome to solar energy industry– aesthetically pleasing solar roof tiles via Tesla.

Tech Crunch | Why Tesla’s new solar roof tiles and home battery are such a big deal

Wildlife. 

Water planning is gaining import, from the revisions at the Texas Water Development Board to what we may see the 2017 Texas Legislature.

The National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club say the one thing that isn’t accounted for in water planning is wildlife. In their own words.

Texas Water Development Board must ensure that future water plans will be evaluated and sent back for revision if they don’t plan for maintaining stream and river flows and freshwater inflows adequate to support the vibrant life and natural beauty of our waterways and coastal bays.

Trib Talks| Include needs of wildlife in Texas’ water plans.

A fall 2018 court date has been scheduled for the group of citizens suing a Houston area TIRZ over flooding. 

Houston Chronicle | Memorial-area residents’ lawsuit gets possible trial date

Informedintel on 9th of July 2016:

INTERIM. Special Districts. Residents Sue TIRZ over Flooding in Federal Court. 5 Bits Informed Intel.

What? Residents Against Flooding group, an area non-profit, are suing The City of Houston and TIRZ 17

Why? The Residents say the City and TIRZ “violated constitutional laws by failing to develop retention basins to collect floodwaters in heavy rain events”

How long do the residents claim the problem? Since 2003 a study on the retention basins has shown the need for retention ponds to prevent flooding

Wasn’t there another suit about this that’s been kicked out by the courts? Yes, the White Oak bayou suit which the Texas Supreme Court threw out in June

How is this suit different? No monetary damages are sought, only that the the TIRZ and City remediate the flood problem by building necessary retention ponds and flood prevention works

Your Houston News | Residents raising funds for flooding lawsuit against Houston, TIRZ

Who announced seismic data sharing? Mexico’s chief oil regulator, Juan Carlos Zepeda

What data will be shared? decades of seismic and other valuable geological data retained by Mexico including:

• well logs
• geological cores
• a collection of seismic images and data
• both in Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico

Will there be a fee to obtain the data? yes. As example, more than 12 firms paid $120 million for data related to 10 Gulf of Mexico sites

Houston Chronicle | Mexico to open seismic data to oil firms – for a fee

What land near UFOs is there a pre-eminent domain negotiation for value? The Groom Mining Land near Area 51

What value does the property owner appraisers give the land?  $44 million and $116 million

What’s the offer from the federal government? $333,300 with a final offer of $5.2 million

What factors do the property owners say factor into the land’s value?

• The land is the only privately held land with a view of Area 51
• An appraiser found the federal government will gain $444 million (and) $2 billion per year by acquiring the land
• The land has been in the family, and mined by the family since 1889

Las Vegas Review Journal | Family accuses Air Force of lowball price estimate on land it seized near Area 51

Washington state is proposing a new energy tax? Yes, voters will vote on Initiative 732

What is the dealw ith this 1st in the nation carbon tax, how does it work?

• Initial rate of $15 per metric ton of carbon emissions
• Rises to $25 per ton the subsequent year
• Continues to rise by inflation plus 3.5% each year thereafter
• Capped at an inflation-adjusted $100 (in 2016 dollars)
• Corresponding tax decreases of:
  • The sales tax rate would be phased down from 6.5 to 5.5% over two years
  • Gross receipts tax rate on manufacturing would decline from 0.484%to 0.01%

Tax Policy Foundation | Top State Tax Ballot Initiatives to Watch in 2016

Wait, what’s happening? Its alleged that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department claimed it conducted testing to determine that it was safe for a company to drill near state park water sources.

What did the agency say first?  “oil wells are lower than or equal in depth to the springs. Since water “doesn’t flow up-gradient,” the park should not be affected by oil and gas drilling.”

Then what happened? Open records requests that produced np testing documents to verify the water safety

And where are we now? TPWD is “now collecting research and considering water testing”

Fuel Fix | Apache drilling won’t hurt Balmorhea springs, Texas park officials say

Fuel Fix | Texas Parks department admits it never studied impact of oil drilling on Balmorhea springs

Distributed energy resources are increasingly attractive to businesses because:

• DERs are attrative in states that offer incentives for energy storage
• DERs are attractive as prices come down

Utility Dive | How Walmart is leveraging DERs for its 100% renewable energy goal

Gearing up for an intra-industry fight: Texas Mineral Owners vs. oil and gas industry

What’s triggering the beef between these 2 groups? Whether companies can drill horizontal wells that reach across different lease lines

From the Texas Mineral Owners’ side: Mineral Leases often prohibit pooling. Pooling is seen as:

• tramples property rights
• upends negotiated contracts

From the oil and gas side:  companies have histroically pooled adjoining leases

San Antonio Express News | Fight brewing between Texas mineral owners, oil and gas industry

• IPO will be by  Double Eagle Energy Holdings
•  Double Eagle Energy Holdings buys oil and gas leases, working interests, mineral rights and royalty interests, operates in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming.
• Estimated IPO value: $3 Billion

Oil Price.com | $3 Billion Texas Oil Unicorn Readies IPO

Mexico’s grid operator wants to connect Baja California Norte to California’s Energy Imbalance Market. 

Utility Dive | Mexico grid operator considers joining western EIM

• It’ll be an economic boon for the electic industry.  
  • Gone will be stagnant load growth with demand increasing
  • New business models will encourage distributed, clean energy resources.
• Will bolster smart grid development
• Support Charging Station Development

Utility Dive | How the coming boom in electric and self-driving vehicles will transform the grid

• Current regulations are confusing. There should be some regulation. But not this. A property rights based system would be better.
• 4 options for groundwater regulation:
  • Maintaining the existing GCD structure but changing the regulatory process;
  • Replacing the GCDs with aquifer-based regulatory authorities;
  •  Replacing the GCDs with a statewide groundwater agency; or
  • Creating groundwater bank accounts.
• Free market principles should prevail. The current regulatory structure under values ground water rights. 

Mosbacher Institute at Texas A&M | Phantom Capital | How Regulation Weakens Texas Groundwater Resources 

The IPO: Extraction Oil & Gas Inc., a Denver, CO based exploration and production company

The shares sold: 33.3 million shares

1st Day of trading ended up:  15% at $21.85, valuing the company at $2.4 billion

Wall Street Journal | Extraction Oil & Gas IPO Is a Winner

Who requested the Attorney General Opinion? Chairman Jim Keffer, House Natural Resources Committee

What question does the opinion answer? “whether the governing body of a member city of the North Texas Municipal Water District (District) may remove or replace a director it has appointed to the District’s Board ofDirectors at its discretion, and with or without cause, during such director’s term.”

What’s the less convoluted question? Can a city kick a watger district director out of his position?

The A.G. Opinion directive:  No, because:

• The Water Code doesn’t say that you can
• The District’s creation statutes don’t say that you can’t remove a director with or without cause for the length of the term
• Even though home rule cities argued that they can through their ordinances remove a director, no they can’t.
  • The A.G. answered this in 1990. in JM- 1239
  • Home Rule cities have can remove municipal officers, not officers of other entities the city happens to appoint
• The courts haven’t given you that authority either, and your power is from the Legislature. Good try, but not gonna happen.

The statutory fix: Bonjour, Water Code. Bonjour,  water district statutes. 

KP-0117

This November, Nevada voters will decide whether to amend the state constitution to give customers the ability to choose their electricity supplier.

What you need to know:

• The initiative has to pass in 2016 & 2018
• The legislature then has to act to de-regulate the market by 2023
• Businesses, including the casinos, are for it
• AFLCIO is opposed.

Utility Dive | Lawsuit seeks to stifle Nevada energy choice ballot initiative

Energy storage, residential and commercial, are booming. Here’s why:

• Expansion of  distributed, intermittent generation (solar and wind power)
• Increased need to load balance
• Restructuring of electricity markets creating new value streams for energy storage.

For 2016, distributed energy storage increasing its new storage installation by 14.2% & accounting for  45.6% of the storage installations.

Utility Dive | After a banner year, energy storage on track to best 2015’s record-setting growth

• Since 2010 wind power capacity has surged 80%
• 10,000+ wind turbines in Texas
• Wind supplies 40-50% of Texas power
• Texas produces more wind power than 25 states produce combined for all their power sources

Forbes | The Great Texas Wind Power Boom

Where: Ohio

Who or what denied eminent domain authority? A county judge

What project was denied eminent domain authority? A pipeline that would move natural gas froma  shale region in Ohio to a facility in Canada

Why wasn’t public use of benefit met? Because the benefit from the poeject was found to be the end point of the pipeline in Canada. The jobs created in Ohio were not persuasive to the court.

The Toledo Blade | Wood County judge nixes pipeline builder’s eminent domain plans

The tech philathropist:  Thomas Siebel

The institute he founded giving grants: Siebel Energy Institute

The institute’s goals: 

• energy research focused on data
• smart grid technology

The grant recipients:

• making power grids more resilient to cyberattacks and outages
• improving their ability to manage renewables
• optimizing efficiency by better understanding consumption
• improve security of the Internet of things in homes and office buildings, using algorithms to detect abnormal activity in networks of sensor-embedded devices
• improve prediction of wind power production levels over time by combining short-term data with mid-term weather prediction models
• microgrids

An editorial in Greenfield Massachusettes makes the following suggestions to improve pipeline reviews:

• Require consideration of state energy and climate-change action plans

• Consider the capacity of all existing or proposed competing gas pipelines and prioritize pre-existing pipeline routes rather than new routes

• Prohibit eminent domain for any pipeline that exports gas

• Require a public health impact assessment

• Require environmental impact statements prepared by an independent agency

• Prevent preemption of lower level regulation

The Recorder | Let’s Fix Pipeline Review Steps

A construction company, Dozr,  proposes to bring construction equipment into the sharing economy. 

The goals: keep equipment running so site operators can keep generating revenue

Utility Dive | Canadian start-up Dozr brings construction equipment into the sharing economy

Where: Ft. Stockton

Who said what? State Representative Lyle Larson made this point:

• Groundwater Conservation Districts have outlived their usefulness

Why? Cities are growing and they need to access rural water supplies

For Stockton Pioneer | Groundwater deregulation eyed here

Governing Magazine points to Denton’s fracking ban as setting the pace for state legislatures to preempt local laws.

Governing | 2016’s Top Legislative Issues to Watch

• Solar Leases vs. Mineral Rights. A lease could put a landwoner in conflict with mineral rights
• Agricultural Tax Exemption Goes Bye Bye.  Solar farms do not qualify.
• No Agriculture. Solar panels don’t allow for the same agricultural use of land that oil and gas and wind turbines allow.
• No settled solar law. Oil and gas has 90 years of law and case law to settle disputes. Soalr is a new issue.

Texas Observer | A New Solar Rush Creates Legal Minefield for Landowners

Professor Ilya Somin, author of a book on Kelo & Professor of Law at George Mason University, lays out standards for when pipeline use of eminent domain is constitutional:

• When common carrier status is not lip service
• When no harm is done to property owners
• When no harm is done to the environment
• Together these 3 protections balance the granting of eminent domain for a public purpose

Washington Post | Volokh Conspiracy | The growing battle over the use of eminent domain to take property for pipelines

• BP America Production Company v. Red Deer Resources, LLC
  • Standards related to Shut In Wells
• BP America Production Company v. Laddex, Ltd.
  • Whether a lease violates the Rule Against Perpetuities 
• ExxonMobil Corporation v. Lazy R Ranch, L.P.
  • ​Groundwater contamination damages

Which state: Pennsylvania

What did the PA Supreme Court say about eminent domain? That private companies that have eminent domain power that is excercised to support their private business is an unconstitutional of taking private land for a private purpose.

What were the specifics on the companies involved with eminent domain? Natural gas companies that stored natural gas on private land. 

Washington County Observer Reporter | Portions of Act 13 gas drilling law struck down as unconstitutional

Pipelines may not have it so easy because:

• pipeline contracts are being renegotiated (not in favor of pipelines)
• impact of energy company bankruptcies (lowers the value of your contracts)
• 2/3 of pipeline execs expect 2017 to include pipeline mergers

Houston Chronicle | Energy downturn almost over – except for pipelines

• 2/3 of industry report that slow recovery in progress
• set to rise in 2017:
  • capital expenditures
  • hiring
  • oil prices

Houston Chronicle | Energy downturn almost over – except for pipelines

• Mexico’s Energy Secretary said fracking will being in early 2017
• Auctions for untapped shale fields will be held in March
• Mexico has a lack of environmental regulations governing hydraulic fracturing 
• Mexico needs more miles/km of pipelines
• US $22.4 billion in energy investments
  • $10 billion for 10,000 kilometers of pipelines
  • $7 billion in exploration and production
  • $2.5 billion for new seismic maps

Mexico News Daily | Fracking expected to begin next year

A study published in the Journal of Science asserts space based satellite radar confirms link between fracking/drilling and earhtquakes because:

• radar determined the earthquakes were not naturally occuring
• confirms that when pressure from wastewater stops increasing, earthquakes stop

Houston Chronicle | Fuel Fix | Drilling wastewater caused Texas earthquakes, according to space-based radar

• Environmental activists shift focus from statehouses to fossil fuel delivery
• Environmental activists aligned with famous people
• Environmental activists align themselves with Native Americans and private property rights activists
• Highlight a local issue- protecting water supplies, protecting Native American burial sights, protecting wildlife, protecting farma nd ranch lands

Washington Post | The big fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline, explained

The state: California

the issue:  How to balance the participation of utilities within the distributed energy resource market (energy storage)

The statutory language used: utilities can particpate so long as they “do not unreasonably limit or impair the ability of non-utility enterprises to market and deploy energy storage systems.”

Utility Dive | Developers wary as California prepares to open behind-the-meter storage to utilities

Texas energy exports: The 1st oil and gas export left the Port of Corpus Christi earlier this year

Energy exports will benefit from the new Panama Canal with its 50 foot drafts.

How the new Panama Canal sets up a quagmire for Texas: Texas ports can only handle a draft of 45 feet.

Energy Wire | INFRASTRUCTURE: Texas ports pick up steam as oil and LNG exports ramp up

A recent Tripwire survey of energy cybersecurity experts reveals:

• Most energy security experts don’t know what would happen if their systems were breached
• Only 59% know how long it would take to find a hacker on their system
• 73% believe they could detect unauthorized intrustions in their network

SC Magazine | Energy sector cybersecurity workers overconfident in their capabilities

Where: Scurry County in West Texas

The wind farm: 100 turbines

Electricty generated:

• 1,000,000 megawatt hours of wind energy every year
• enough for annual electricty for 90,000 homes
• Amazon has wind famrs in 4 other states: IN, VA, OH & NC

Popular Mechanics | Amazon Builds Giant Wind Farm In Texas

California Legislature had an ambitious deal to reconfingure its Public Utility Commission. The deal died. Here’s where the fingers are pointing:

• Deal Killer 1: Subjecting agency staff to criminal prosecution for knowingly releasing confidential information, because public information requests makes this area very grey.
• Deal Killer 2: Without #1, telecommunications and cable companies were out.
• Deal Killer 3: Personalities and legislative rules. This can kill anything, but the public refusal to recognize the author of the bill for a vote. 

L.A. Times | How a bid to overhaul California’s energy regulator fell apart on the Legislature’s last day of session

TCEQ has moved all its licenses to an online application process. Let’s welcome the agency to the computing world and the internet. Here are the details to its new online application process:

• www.tceq.texas.gov/licensing/eapp.
• $111 application fee
• applies to all new licensees
• 180 day grace period

TCEQ occupational licensing 

Generally good job, but… you need some help. It’s like when your Great Aunt Edna says, “oh, that’s nice, but…”:

• LCRA needs to work on documentation and controls concerning:
  • irrigation billing
  • accounts payable
  • compensation
• LCRA needs to document & consistently follow policies and procedures for financial processes
• LCRA should pay invoices more timely
• LCRA should document why it gave bonuses. For funsies is probably not going to meet the auditor’s standard.
• LCRA should keep a better eye on procuring fuel and energy

Texas State Auditor Report Number 17-001

• Document, document, document. Need to document information used in financial model for making SWIFT policy & funding decisions
• Document, document, document (again).  Need documents for how they prioritize applications & of technical reviews of applications
• Consistent Monitoring.  Should strengthen its  supervisory review & monitoring process to ensure SWIFT program application review & project funding processes were accurate and complete.
• Data Security. Don’t give access to your programs to everyone. Restrict access to controls for its project tracking system & accounting system

Texas State Auditor Report Number 16-039

The Trans Pecos Pipeline:

• 143 miles long
• 42 inch diameter
• 1.4 billion cubic feet per day will move through it
• $766 million project

The eminent domain process for Trans Pecos:

• lawsuits with roughly 40 landowners
• 3 counties
• 7 lawsuits have been heard by special commissioners
• 6 landowners in Pecos County were awarded $2.8 Million
• $2.8 million award is 30 times more than the initial offer

Indian Country Today Media Network | Energy Transfer Opposed in Texas, Too, As Celebs and Landowners Fight Local Pipeline

Where in Far North Texas? Colorado. Weld, County.

What issue is this editorial confronting? Pipelines that traverse Farm land.

What recommendations do they have for pipelines?

• eminent domain is a privilege, not a threat
• eminent domain is not a bargaining tool
• fields should be left in good condition, no cheating on what soil is used for backfill
• avoid careless mistakes like using sandy soil

The Tribune of Greeley & Weld County, CO | Tribune opinion: Regulations regarding pipelines provide right balance

The 1st state to require statewide testing of schools: New York

More states to follow.

Houston ISD for 2016  is requiring testing of drinking water.

Governing | New York Becomes First State to Require Lead Water Testing in Schools

KHOU | HISD to test for lead in water at all schools

Why does California Governor Jerry Brown want California’s energy grid to integrate with  neighboring states’ grids?

• Growing creating of renewable energy in the West
• Greater efficinecy in a wider grid

Sacramento Bee | Jerry Brown presses case for expanding California power grid

The Case:  ExxonMobil Corp. v. Lazy R Ranch LP, et al., [15-0270]

the Issue: A groundwater pollution dispute with the owners of a West Texas ranch

What the tea leave readers say about its impact on future contamination claims: It will be the touchstone for  future contamination disputes

Which side did the 8th Court of Appeals take? The landowners asserting contaminated water

Oral Arguments: 9:00 a.m., November 7, 2016

Law 360 | Exxon Gets Texas High Court Review Of Water Pollution Row

Natural Gas Intel | Texas High Court to Hear ExxonMobil Permian Groundwater Dispute

the State: Florida

the ballot proposition: Whether to exempt solar panels from property taxes, including commercial and industrial property taxes

The voter approval rate: 70% in favor of the tax exemption

Utility Dive | Florida votes to strike property taxes on solar panels

The legislator: Cecil Bell

The legislative objective: if a subcontractor follows the rules and damages a poorly marked pipeline, the liability should be limited.

The number of pipeline strikes in 2015: 8800 according to the Railroad Commission 

How do the 8800 pipeline strikes break down on fault?

• 26% excavators fails to call the pipeline safety hotline
• 31% poor or no pipeline markings

What kind of remedies is Bell proposing? An excavator who followed proepr protocol could recover attoreny fees

CBS 4 Valley Central | Should Texas limit liability for contractors that break underground pipes?

How does a landowner whose land is in the path of a proposed water pipeline cause a legal quagmire? Create a special district- a Conservation District.

How do 2 special district resolve eminent domain over another’s land? The courts are deciding whether the land can be taken.

What have the courts said about dueling eminent domain authority of special districts?The TX Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Conservation District lands on a procedural issue, and now the issue of eminent domain taking is back before the trial court.

D Magazine | A Gentleman Rancher’s Guide to Fighting Tarrant Regional Water District

The startup: Quidnet Energy,

What it does: producing energy from the process of “pumping water deep into the earth to fill up the cracks in-between rocks that previously held fossil fuels”

Where it operates: Central Texas with the pilot launched in Erath County

Give me an exmaple of the energy generated: Pumping water into an abandoned 2800 foot well for 12 hours generated 6 hours of electricty

The Guardian | A Texas startup’s big energy idea: storing electricity underground

The company: Sandy Creek coal-fired power plant

The County of appraisal: McLennan County

The Appraisal Disrict’s values:

• $900 million in 2014
• $1.17 billion in 2015

The Company’s legal argument to reduce its appraisal by 60%: A willing buyer would pay no more than $380 million for the plant in 2014 and $395 million in 2015 + a recognition that power markets had slumped.

POWER | Texas Coal Plant Wins Tax Appraisal Case, Property Value Cut 60%

State Representative Hitchens is a pipeline supporter & author of Georgia’s 1 year ban on eminent domain. 

Why? What pushed him over the edge? A private property rights supporter, a veteran, a retired law enforcement officer, a wildife supporter, and it had been 23 years since Georgia grnated private companies the power of eminent domain.

The 23 year time span since authorization was the tipping point? Partly, Yes. Technologies have changed on pipeline safety. 

What landowner stories impacted the legislator? A land owner whose family had owned the same land since its original grant in 1753 from the King of England.

Does this Republican have an opinion on taking private property for a private enterprise, like a pipeline? Yes, he is against it, but he understands the need for government use of eminent domain. 

Southeast Energy News | Q&A: Eminent domain and the Georgia pipeline debate

What do they call sewage sludge used to replace coal? Biosolids

The Company behind it: Casella Organics, a Maine Company

Is Casella approaching regulators? Yes, in Pennsylvania

The regulatory goals: 

• Classify biosolids as a renewable fuel
• Permitting to allow for the burning of biosolids in power plants

Fuel Fix | Can sewage sludge replace coal at power plants?

The Company: Hive

What does Hive do? Smart Thermostats

Where will the U.S. Headquarters be? Greenway Plaza in Houston

Houston Business Journal | Exclusive: International energy tech co. to open U.S. headquarters in Houston

Special districts, like MUDs- municipal utility districts- are getting closer scrunity from the Texas Legislature from stand alone committees to interim charges. 

The Houston Chronicle this week makes these points about the powers of MUDs: 

• MUD 187 in Ft. Bend was created in 2008 by the votes of 2 people living in a trailer on a large vacant plot of land that would become sprawling subdivisions
• MUD 187’s 2 voters also approved $188Million in bond authority
• MUD 187’s Moody’s bond rating is Baa3 which means it may have “certain speculative characteristics”
• The general problems with MUDs, bonds and debt:
  • “too high indebtedness
  •  insufficient state oversight
  • cozy relationships with developers
  • a lack of responsiveness to citizens and potential conflicts of interest”
• 1,751 active water districts in Texas, which includes 949 MUDs, with a total of $60 billion in statewide debt

Supporters of the current system say:

• Keeps housing prices down
• Makes development financially viable
• Allows growth to “pay for itself”

Houston Chronicle | Municipal Utility Districts in Texas have sweeping power to sell bonds, levy taxes

Which power plant had a partial owenr that was foreign? Hinkley Point, Somerset England

Which country was a 33% owner in the facility? Szuhsiung Ho, an advisor to the state-owned China General Nuclear Power (CGN) company

Where does the espionage come into play?  the US Department of Justice claims the Chinese entities were attempting to steal US nuclear technology

SC Magazine | US government accuses Hinkley point partner of nuclear espionage

• Meters. Inaccurate meter reads. Actual water theft.
• Infrastructure.  An aging infrastructure leaks.

The annual cost to Abilene? $800,000.

KTXS | Audit shows Abilene loses millions of gallons of water

Which state has the nation’s only wind energy tax? Wyoming.

When did Wyoming tax wind? 2012

How much revenue has been raised? Less than $15 million

What lessons have emerged from the wind tax:

• New wind projects say that the amount of tax that can be imposed before they’re taxed out of business is 0%.
• No new facilities have been built since the tax was imposed
• An increased tax is opposed by construction industry that builds wind facilities

The alternative to increasing the wind tax in Wyoming? The state recouping the federal tax incentives offered to wind facilities.

Governing | Has the Nation’s Only Wind Tax Paid Off for Wyoming?

The candidate: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a left wing candidate

The Office sought:  Seeks to oust Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto

The position on Mexico’s deregulated energy market: Return to a regulated market

Splash 24/7 | Presidential hopeful would undo Mexico’s energy reforms

• The Railroad Commission’s history as an authority in oil and gas dates to 1917 and grew to global authority in the 1930s
• The proposed Energy Commission is a misnomer too, as it will not regulate wind, solar or electric energy
• The proposed Texas Oil & Gas Commission is also a misnomer since the agency regulates hardrock minerals as well
• The name change will be costly
• The name Railroad Commission is unique, like Texas

Forbes | Although Misunderstood, The Texas Railroad Commission Is A Name Worth Saving

In 2010 a pipeline in San Bruno, California exploded. This week a verdict in the legal case brought a split verdict.

The informed intel:

• The federal jury found PG&E guilty of:
  • 6 counts: five violations of the Pipeline Safety Act and 1 count of obstructing the National Transportation Safety Bureau’s investigation into the cause of the blast.
• The federal jury acquitted PG&E of:
  • 6 counts related to maintaining pipeline pressure-testing records and identifying safety threats.
• The penalties sought: $3 million, down from the original $562 million

The Recorder | Split Verdict in PG&E Pipeline Blast Case

• No state water quality standards for private wells
• Educating and assisting private well owners is left to groundwater conservation districts
• Cash strapped groundwater conservation districts don’t have the bandwidth for private well contamination education

The number of private water wells in Texas: 1 million

KXAN | Despite dangers, few regulations for private well users