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FERC Proposes NEPA Revisions to Streamline Air Quality Analyses and Accelerate Natural Gas Projects

LCG, October 16, 2026--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on Thursday its new proposal to revise and accelerate its review of air quality effects for proposed natural gas projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The draft policy statement highlights revisions designed to (i) avoid unnecessary delays and duplicative analysis and (ii) deliver greater regulatory certainty and a streamlined path forward for project applicants.

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AEP Announces 702-MW Bloom Fuel Cell Project to Serve Google in Wyoming

LCG, October 14, 2026--American Electric Power (AEP) today announced plans for a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google, under which AEP will invest approximately $4 billion to advance a new 702-MW fuel cell generation project located near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Google will acquire power from Cheyenne Fuel Cell, LLC, which is approximately 92 percent owned and controlled by AEP and 8 percent owned by funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners, LLP. AEP and its partners plan to start construction this year and to be fully operational by the end of 2028.

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Industry News

California Capsule: Natural Gas, Power Prices Fall

LCG, June 6, 2001Particularly benign weather in California for the past couple of weeks has been accompanied by sharply falling wholesale natural gas and electric power prices in the state. Some credit conservation others realize it's Mother Nature.

The California Independent System operator quit posting market prices for power on April 11, perhaps out of embarrassment, but other sources say power has been selling for around $100 per megawatt hour recently, a huge drop from the $500 to $800 paid by the state Department of Water Resources in an early-May heat wave..

Also recently, power has been selling for as little as $20 per megawatt-hour during nighttime off-peak hours. It is too bad it can't be bottled.

At the same time, and probably for the same reasons, natural gas prices at the Arizona-California border have dropped to their lowest levels since last November. Most experts attributed the drop to replenished storage in the state and a nationwide easing of gas prices.

Some observers noted an unexpected surge in hydroelectric generation in the state as one cause of price drops for both commodities, but that surge is temporary and also indicative of lower hydroelectric power supply later this summer.

The snowpack in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains was neither deep nor dense this year, and is melting rapidly. That will mean less water in the reservoirs later in the year.

U.S. Justice Department Investigates AES, Williams
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether AES Corp. and The Williams Cos. conspired to limit development of new sources of electric power generation in California.

AES said yesterday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Justice Department may charge that its agreement with Williams could constrain future power plant development in the state.

AES purchased three power plants from Southern California Edison Co. in 1998 the Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Redondo Beach generating stations. Under a tolling agreement, Williams provides natural gas to fuel the power plants and sells the entire output of the three facilities.

The three plants have a combined capacity of more than 3,900 megawatts and AESD recently received approval to recondition two units at the Huntington Beach plant that had been retired by SoCal Ed in 1995. Those units will add another 450 megawatts to the state power inventory.

Aaron Thomas, a spokesman for AES, said he believes the Justice Department is focused on a part of the companies' tolling agreement that specific how expansion or repowering of plants are to be done.

PG&E, ISO Agree on Payment of Some Bills
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and the California Independent System Operator agreed yesterday to a preliminary court order providing that the utility will continue to receive but not pay generators' bills for power purchased in its behalf by the state in the volatile spot market.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali said he will sign an order that will specify that the ISO will not procure power except for a "creditworthy buyer who has agreed to pay the generator."

The order is an outgrowth of an April order by FERC which barred the ISO from purchasing power on behalf of any non-creditworthy buyer, such as PG&E. Under the agreement, the ISO will not press any claims against the utility on behalf of generators.

The only credit-worth buyer in the state is the California Department of Water Resources, which has remained aloof from PG&E's bankruptcy proceedings by claiming sovereign immunity. Montali said the water agency could still demand payment from PG&E.

Davis Named Government Waste 'Porker of the Month'
The taxpayers' money watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste has named California Gov. Gray Davis winner of its "Porker of the Month Award for June 2001." June is brand-new, could the governor have earned the Porker label in only five days, or even six?

It turns out the group is bestowing the award for an entire year's worth of mishandling the state's energy crisis.

"For resting on his laurels during the first months of California's crisis, for blaming the Bush administration and free markets for a California-government created problem, and for asking for a 'solution' that will do nothing but defer the problem and keep Californians in the dark, Gov Gray Davis is out June 2001 Porker of the month," the group announced.

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