Barnett Shale

Is U.S. power grid vulnerable to cyber attacks?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lacks comprehensive legal authority to quickly respond to cyber attacks on the network that distributes electric power, a top agency official said, according to a Bloomberg News report.

FERC’s jurisdiction for the electric grid doesn’t extend to Alaska, Hawaii or local electricity distribution facilities, Joseph McClelland, director of the Office of Electric Reliability, said today at a House committee hearing in Washington.

The lack of agency oversight “may leave significant facilities vulnerable to the threat of a cyber or physical attack,” McClelland said in his prepared testimony.

Congress is considering legislation to bolster the security of the grid. McClelland said any new legislation should allow the government to take pre-emptive action to avoid an attack.

--Jack Z. Smith

ERCOT: Ample electric power for summer

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operator of the state’s major power grid, said today that it expects sufficient electric generation capacity to exceed peak summer demand by 18.4 percent.

That surpasses the 13.75 percent threshold set by ERCOT for reliable grid operation in case of “major outages or unusual temperature extremes,” said Kent Saathoff, ERCOT’s vice president of grid operations and system planning.

ERCOT forecasts peak summer demand of 63,898 megawatts, which is almost 2,000 megawatts less than last summer’s record-breaking peak demand of 65,776 megawatts on Aug. 23.

Projected summer generation by fuel type is: natural gas, 64.4 percent; coal, 25.8 percent; nuclear, 7 percent; wind, 1.1 percent; hydroelectric, 0.7 percent; biomass, 0.1 percent, and other, 0.8 percent (includes landfill gas and petroleum coke, plus other fuels such as diesel that are not specifically categorized).

The information was included in ERCOT's summer assessment released today. 

--Jack Z. Smith

Lege's environmental actions may rile EPA

The Texas Legislature produced a mixed bag of results on environmental rules, including some new laws that could infuriate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Here's The Associated Press report on it.

--Jack Z. Smith

Tarrant County leads state in natural gas output

Tarrant County continues to be the runaway leader among Texas' 254 counties in natural gas production.

The county produced 59.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas in March, according to preliminary data from the Texas Railroad Commssion.

Johnson County, Tarrant's neighbor to the south, was No. 2, at 42.6 billion cubic feet of gas produced in March.

Tarrant and Johnson have become major gas producers only with the advent of the 21st century drilling boom in North Texas' Barnett Shale.

Two other North Texas counties with significant Barnett Shale production also made the list of Texas' top 10 gas-producing counties. Denton County was No. 5, producing nearly 21 billion cubic feet in March, and Wise County was sixth, at 19.5 billion cubic feet.

--Jack Z. Smith  

France criticizes German nuclear retreat

Germany's decision to close all its nuclear plants in a decade will lead to greater dependence on fossil fuels (oil, natural gas and coal), increase carbon emissions and require imported atomic power, French officials say.

Click here for the full Bloomberg News report.

--Jack Z. Smith  

South Texas play embodies U.S. onshore oil boom

The red-hot Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas embodies the emergence of U.S. shale plays that are producing not only natural gas, but also large quantities of oil.

Energy companies are expected to invest an estimated $25 billion into drilling about 5,000 U.S. onshore oil wells this year in dense rocks such as shales, thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing that already have produced drilling booms in shale-gas plays such as the Barnett Shale in North Texas.

Click here for the New York Times report.

--Jack Z. Smith

Is Aubrey McClendon worth what he's paid?

The Motley Fool, an online commentary on stock investments, sees a lot to like about Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest producer in North Texas' Barnett Shale. But it questions whether Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon merits his exceptionally high compensation. Click here for the commentary.

--Jack Z. Smith

Local pump prices keep on falling

Local gasoline prices are continuing to tumble after an almost relentless uptick for most of this year.

The average price for a gallon of regular in the Fort Worth-Arlington area is $3.62, according to a report today by auto club AAA, Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's 28 cents below a peak of $3.90 reached earlier this month, but still $1.02 higher than a year ago.

The average prices for the other fuel grades in the Fort Worth-Arlington area are: mid-grade, $3.77; premium, $3.91; and diesel, $3.84.

--Jack Z. Smith

Local firm benefis from surge in oil drilling

White Settlement-based Weir SPM, a leading maker of large pumps used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells, is enjoying ballooning revenues and greatly expanding its workforce as a result of a $40 million plant investment and a surge in drilling for oil.

Click here for the full Star-Telegram report.

--Jack Z. Smith

China battling severe power shortage

China is raising electricity rates as it copes with a serious power shortage, as outlined in this Associated Press report:

SHANGHAI (AP) — China has raised electricity rates by about 20 yuan (about $3) per 1,000 kilowatt hours for some industrial users as parts of the country grapple with severe power shortages, a report said today.

Residential electricity rates remain unchanged, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It gave no details about where the changes would be imposed. The move presumably is meant to encourage conservation and motivate electricity utilities saddled with losses from surging coal and oil costs to produce more electricity.

Much of central China is enduring its worst energy crisis in years, with factories and residents facing power cuts as supply runs short of demand — a problem worsening as a drought dries rivers, reducing hydroelectric capacity.

Closures of older coal-fired plants to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants have also cut into supply.

Authorities have warned that manufacturers in booming industrial regions west of Shanghai may face even tighter power rationing when demand surges in the peak summer months.

The industry group China Electricity Council has estimated a power shortfall of up to 40 million kilowatts in the summer. That is less than 5 percent of China’s generating capacity, but the shortages are concentrated in key manufacturing regions such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu, near Shanghai.

--Jack Z. Smith