Energy & Water

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

What was the purpose of Governor Brown’s $16 billion water project that includes water tunnels in California? To bring water from the South Sacramento River to drier portions of the Central Valley and Southern California.

Are the water tunnels complete? No

What hurdles are the water tunnels facing?

• No regulatory approval
  • ​pending federal and state audits on the tunnels
• Funding the tunnels.
  • ​Assurances were made that local water districts would fund the tunnels, but now it appears the state may fund the project
  • Local water districts are hesitant to fund the tunnels as there are no assurances that the tunnels would being ample water to make the tunnel worthwhile.

Brownsville Herald via AP | AP NewsBreak: New questions over California water project

Nationwide how many are impacted by contaminated water? 6 million

Which contaminates are included? Industrial contaminates known as known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs  that contribute to cancer, high cholesterol and hormone problems

The highest contamination concentrations are near these facilities:

• industrial plants
• military bases
• airports 
• wastewater treatment plants

Governing | 6 Million

Washington Post | Researchers find unsafe levels of industrial chemicals in drinking water of 6 million Americans

• Since mid-2014 $100 billion has been raised to scoop up energy
• The targeted investments: everything from undrilled & developed oil and gas acreage to troubled loans.
• Dealmaking is set to accellerate in the coming year

Fuel Fix | Private equity firms size up distressed oil deals that banks shun

What small town is suing the RRC? Nordheim

What is the lawsuit all about? A 204 acre oil field waste pit

What would be collected in the waste pit?

•  water- and oil-based muds
• soil contaminated by oil spills
• drill cuttings
•  the broken bits of rock and dirt that get drilled through on the way to finding oil and gas

What are Nordheim’s concerns about the waste pit?

• Impact to rainwater runoff during floods
• Evidence of shallow groundwater pollution potential
• The RRC erroneously found that soils on site were suitable for a landfill

San Antonio Express News | Eagle Ford Shale small town sues Railroad Commission of Texas over oil and gas waste pit

Does Texas track wastewater spills? No.

Which spills does the Railroad Commission track? Spills of petroleum products

Which petroleum spills require reporting? Over 5 gallons. An H-8 must be filed.

Are H-8 petroleum spills publicly accessible? Yes, H-8s are online.

Energy Wire | In Texas, wastewater spills get less scrutiny

The Texas Economic Development Council says that market forces are driving Texas to clean energy by:

• maintaining current prices, plus inflation, for the next 20 years
• continuing low natural gas prices that support clean energy
• continuing rapid employment in clean energy.

Statesman | Carlton Schwab Texas Economic Development Council | Schwab: Market forces driving Lone Star State toward a cleaner grid​

Which city is proposing to fill its pension deficit with a tax on water? Chicago

What’s the proposed water tax rate increase? An escalating utility tax that looks like this:

• Year 1: 7% tax
• Year 2: Double it. 14% tax
• Year 3: 21% tax
• Years 4& 5: 28% utility tax

How much revenue does Chicago think the utility tax will collect?  $239 million over 5 years

What’s the cost per home owner?

• year 1: $4.43 more month /  $53.16 per year
• year 5: $225.96 a year

What other option was considered? A property tax increase 

What do opponents say about the utility tax? It’s regressive

Chicago Sun Times | Pension fix: 28 percent water/sewer tax, phased in over 4 years

El Paso Energy no longer utilizes coal generation & is focused on increased solar energy sources.

PV-Tech | Texas utility goes coal-free with solar focus

New Charges against officials in Flint, MI for its water crisis.

Total number of elected officials charge din Flint, MI: 9, including employees of Department of Environmental Quality & Department of Health and Human Services

The charges include: 

• misconduct in office charges
• willful neglect of duty
• various conspiracy counts
• tampering with test results
• misdemeanor violations of clean-water law
• tampering with evidence

Brownsville Herald | 6 more Michigan public workers charged in Flint water crisis

What does SMU’s seismic report conclude? A causal link between oil, gas wastewater disposal and Texas earthquakes

The Railroad commission response? Still reviewing

The Independent Petroleum Association of America response? Questioned SMU’s work

Insurance Journal | SMU Study Links Oil, Gas Wastewater Disposal to Texas Quakes

Business Structure Matters.  A partnership between SolarCity and MP2 Energy allows the entity to operate as an energy retailer & a “qualified scheduling entity” trading on the state’s wholesale energy markets

location, location, location. The enterprise began in 2015 in Dallas. A 2016 epxansion to Houston has been announced.

Solar makes the structure work because  solar offers the most energy at peak times of use.

Utility Dive | In Texas, 1 company is making rooftop solar work without net metering

National Geographic’s website has a feature piece entitled, Palmetto Pipeline: An Eminent Problem. Here’s what you need to know:

• Southerners aren’t opposing pipelines for environmental reasons, but for private property reasons.
• What didn’t sit well with landowners is that the pipeline can take an easement via eminent domain, leaving the property owner to pay taxes on land that it can’t use because the pipeline is on it.
• In 2016, government officials denied eminent domain because there was not enough public benefit.
• Much of the land was near the  Savannah River, and may property owners are set on keeping the integrity of the waterway.

National Geographic | Palmetto Pipeline: An Eminent Problem

The Top 5 oil and gas economies based on economic and demographic data aggregator and analysis firm Headlight Data:

• Oklahoma County, OK
• Kern County, CA
• Ector County, TX
• Williams County, ND
• Eddy County, NM

The worst county for oil and gas economiues: Harris County, TX.

Rig Zone | Oklahoma County Best while Harris Co. Worst for Oil, Gas Economies

Which companies are involved in a natural gas generator business relationship? HEB & Texas Microgrid LLC

Which HEB locations will be involved? Houston Gulf Coast Stores

What sparked the move to natural gas generators? Business losses from power outages during 2016 floods

San Antonio Business Journal | H-E-B to install natural gas ‘microgrid’ as backup generators at 45 stores in Houston

5 benefits to Texas for Increased natural gas demand in Mexico:

• Texas natural gas supply can be sold to Mexico
• By 2020, daily exports to Mexico from Texas will be  3.4 billion cubic feet a day
• Mexico does not have a shale infrastructure, and will rely on Texas
• More fracking in Texas to supply Mexico’s demand
• More pipeline construction in Texas to meet Mexcio’s demand

Bloomberg | Mexico’s Demand for Natural Gas Spurs Pipelines, Disputes

Which Texas oil & gas leases increased 3times in past 6 months? Oil & gas leases for Texas’ publicly held land 

How many acres of state land have been leased in the last 6 months? 13,000+ acres

What does this mean for the Permanent School Fund? $98 million in revenue

Average price per acre: $7,365, compared to around $2,500 per acre in January and about $1,700 in August 2015

Statesman | Texas oil and gas leases jump despite oil price slump

The State: California

The win: Landowners who sought compensation for extensive geological and environmental testing that included:

• multiple days of precondemantion access to land
• over a two-year period
• with the removal of soil borings to 150 and 300 feet

The win for governmental entities: Testing and precondemnation access can continue but with the inclusion of compensation to landowners and acess to jury trials

The public works project: A water tunnel under the Bay Delta as part of a new water delivery system

Matteoni, O’Laughlin & Hechtman | California Supreme Court Issues Major Ruling Regarding Landowner Compensation For Those Affected By Governor’s Proposed Water Plan To Tunnel Under Bay Delta

RecordNet.com | Surveys for Delta tunnels can move forward

How does electronic water use monitoring work?

• wireless meters that show customers their water consumption
• customers can record average monthly water usage, then get email or text alerts when water usage is exceeding that rate

What are its benefits? 

•  A customer might discover a leaky toilet or pipe weeks before the monthly bill arrives

Is it being used in Texas? Yes, in Cedar Hill

What’s the goal of electronic monitoring? To counter act water loss

What was the main source of water loss discovered by Cedar Hill? Incorrect metering, either billing too much or too little

Cost to Cedar Hill? $9 million for new meters

Recoupment of cost rate? Costs will be recouped within 7 years

2 Cities currently pursuing aquifer storage & recovery:

• San Antonio
• Kerrville

1 City Soon to join the Aquifer Storage & Recovery trend:

• New Braunfels

KSAT 12 | New Braunfels may be next Texas city to store water surplus underground

Why is port traffic increasing because of wind energy? The parts necessary to build a wind turbine are large and transported via port.

Let’s look at the impact on the Port of Corpus Christi:

•  99,300 tons of wind energy-related equipment and materials in 2015
• Wind energy parts gobbled up port space and the Port had to us a 200-acre parcel on the north side of the Corpus Christi Ship Channel for storage of wind energy parts

Corpus Christi Caller Times | Wind energy exports making port’s role more important

Which eminent domain case is resulting in landowners attorneys fees being paid by the condemning entity? TransCanada Pipeline vs. Nebraska land owners

York News Times | Nebraska Judge Orders TransCanada to Pay Legal Costs of Keystone XL Landowners

Facing the need to build a damn quickly, North Carolina Legislature is passing a quick take eminent domain law for the project. Here’s what you need to know:

What 5 things do we need to know about this work around to normal North Carolina eminent domain laws?

• Quick take eminent domain was passed for this project
• Quick take eminent domain allows the dam builder to take possesion of the land immediately
• Quick take eminent domain allows the price of the land to be degermined later, after the project has started
• The quick take eminent domain is limited to this damn project
• The quick take eminent domain law is limited to 3 years in total

Fayetteville, NC Observer | NC House OK’s bill to help Hope Mills get land for lake; landowner feels wronged