December 16, 2021 archive

Regulators sign off on OGE rate hike to pay for winter storm costs

  It’s a done deal. Oklahoma regulators on Thursday, in a 2-1 vote approved Oklahoma Gas and Electric’s request to raise rates to pay for an estimated $760 million in February storm costs. The decision to allow the utility to pay out the storm costs over a 28-year period drew support from one industrial group …

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Devon Energy collects nearly 800 pounds of nut butter for SE Texas food bank

(Devon employees (L to R) Kim Davis, JP Jackson, Denise Becker, Kris Crenshaw and Michael Zappe delivered nut butter to the Food Bank of Golden Crescent.) Devon Energy employees rallied together to donate 786 pounds of nut butter to the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, Texas. The organization serves children, families and seniors in 11 southeastern Texas counties.   “Nut butter is one of …

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Crude oil hits 3-week high while OK energy stocks slumped

    Sparked by a decline in U.S. crude supplies along with increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine, crude oil prices rebounded to 3-week highs in Thursday’s trading. But it didn’t mean Oklahoma energy stocks did the same. Western Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery rose 2.13% or $1.51 to $72.38 a barrel in trading …

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Wildfires menace Oklahoma and Kansas during record-windy Wednesday

  Western Oklahoma had an eerie atmosphere on Wednesday as 70 mph winds raced across the region, stirring up massive clouds of dust, shooting tumbleweeds across the plains and highways and leaving residents huddled indoors for the large part. A major wildfire broke out near Guymon and prompted evacuations in the area. Firefighters were still …

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Manufacturing shows signs of improvements but concerns linger

    The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released the December Manufacturing Survey Thursday showing manufacturing activity in the Tenth District that included Oklahoma had edged higher. However, Chad Wilkerson, vice president and economist at the bank said expectations for future activity moderated slightly. “Regional factory activity continued to grow modestly in December,” said …

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BLM officers return to D-C

  POLITICO reports that senior leaders of the Bureau of Land Management, those moved to Grand Junction, Colorado when the Trump administration relocated headquarters there are returning to Washington, D.C. with the Biden administration in charge of things. An internal agency email obtained by POLITICO indicated that most assistant directors, deputy assistant directors, the director …

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Williams recognized for strong ESG performance and transparency

    Williams  was recognized across several key rankings in 2021– including CDP, Dow Jones Sustainability Index, Sustainalytics and MSCI – for the company’s commitment to transparency and governance around climate change. Williams ranked first in its peer group in the DJSI and was the only U.S. energy company to be included in their world …

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Clean Energy scorecard shows OKC and Tulsa rank poorly

  The 2021 City Clean Energy Scorecard released this week by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy gives low-rankings to Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The list ranks 100 major U.S. cities on their efforts including reducing energy waste in homes and buildings and moving toward a cleaner power grid—and doing so equitably. It identifies the leading cities, …

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Friday’s other energy news headlines

** About half of U.S. oil pipeline space is sitting unused, heating up competition for barrels in higher-output areas like the Permian Basin in Texas. Reuters reports that overall U.S. pipeline capacity utilization is at around 50%, compared with a range of 60% to 70% headed into early 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to …

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Customers give high marks to PSO in J-D Power Survey

  Public Service Company of Oklahoma received its best-ever scores on the 2021 J.D. Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction SurveySM. Overall, PSO customer satisfaction rose by 10 points in a period when the average score for most utilities dropped by three points. The survey results mark the second consecutive year PSO has topped all previous …

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