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PCCA Journal|2

nd

Quarter 2015

26

P

G&E is supporting a new,

public-private collabora-

tion between the U.S. De-

partment of Energy (DOE)

and 16 other leading

electric utilities from across the country.

Announced on April 21 by Vice President

Joe Biden, the Partnership for Energy

Sector Climate Resilience will focus on

improving the resilience of the nation’s

energy infrastructure against extreme

weather and climate change impacts.

Biden’s announcement was made

during an event to issue the adminis-

tration’s Quadrennial Energy Review,

which provides a future look at energy

infrastructure, identifying the threats,

risks, and opportunities for U.S. energy

and climate security. Under the partner-

ship, owners and operators of energy

assets will develop and pursue strategies

to reduce climate and weather-related

vulnerabilities.

“As a provider of energy to nearly 16

million Californians, PG&E understands

our commitment to reduce our carbon

footprint while building more resil-

ient infrastructure that can withstand

changing climate conditions. Doing so is

integral to our ongoing efforts to provide

safe, reliable, affordable, and clean en-

ergy,” said PG&E President Chris Johns.

The partnership met on April 30 with

U.S. DOE Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz and

senior executives from the 17 companies,

including Pat Hogan, PG&E’s vice presi-

Power News

Continued from page 25

Industry Speaks Out on New Fracking Rules

M

any congressional Republicans and

several industry trade groups were a

critical of the Interior Department’s

newly released fracking regulations,

which the American Petroleum Insti-

tute called “just one more barrier to growth.” API said the

hydraulic fracturing rule imposes new costs and delays on

energy development without improving on existing state and

federal regulations.

“Despite the renaissance on state and private lands, energy

production on federal lands has fallen, and this rule is just

one more barrier to growth,” said API Director of Upstream

and Industry Operations Erik Milito. “Under the strong envi-

ronmental stewardship of state regulators, hydraulic fractur-

ing and horizontal drilling have opened up a new era of en-

ergy security, job growth, and economic strength. Increased

production and use of natural gas has helped cut U.S. carbon

emissions to a nearly 20-year low, and this decision only

stands in the way of further progress, hampering natural gas

development on federal lands onshore, where it has already

declined an amazing 21.6 percent since 2009.

“A duplicative layer of new federal regulation is unneces-

sary, and we urge the BLM to work carefully with the states

to minimize costs and delays created by the new rule to

ensure that public lands can still be a source of job creation

and economic growth.”

Many on Capitol Hill echoed API’s comments. “The com-

bination of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling is re-

sponsible for the unprecedented upswing in domestic oil and

natural gas production during the past six years in the Lower

48,” GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chairwoman of the

Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said in

a statement. “U.S. oil production has more than doubled—to

9 million barrels a day—since 2008, but that increase has

occurred almost exclusively on state and private lands as

companies have avoided federal areas because of permitting

delays and other roadblocks.”

Even before the final rule was released, Senate Majority

Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Environment and Public

Works Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., intro-

duced a bill that would block its implementation.

The Fracturing Regulations are Effective in State Hands

Act (S. 828) reads: “A State shall have the sole authority to

promulgate or enforce any regulation, guidance, or permit

requirement regarding the treatment of a well by the applica-

tion of fluids under pressure to which propping agents may

be added for the expressly designed purpose of initiating or

propagating fractures in a target geologic formation in order

to enhance production of oil, natural gas, or geothermal pro-

duction activities on or under any land within the boundaries

of the State.”

Continued on page 28

PG&E Participates in New

U.S. Climate Resilience Partnership