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