April 19, 2018 archive

State Regulators Shut Down Disposal Well Following Two Earthquakes

The latest earthquakes early Thursday in northern Oklahoma prompted the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to take some regulatory steps including the shutdown of one disposal well. One quake measured 3.8 magnitude near Waynoka and an hour later a 3.2 magnitude quake rattled Dover. Waynoka is in Major county and Dover is in Kingfisher County. Later in …

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Rep. Bridenstine Gets His Wish—He’s New NASA Leader

After months of waiting, Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine gets the job he has long sought—that of Administrator at NASA. In doing so, he has become the first elected official to serve in the position. The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to confirm his nomination by President Trump on a 50-49 vote as 47 Democrats …

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House Sends LP Gas Board Bill to Governor

By a unanimous vote of 88-0, the Oklahoma House on Thursday approved a bill making some changes in the requirements of the job of the state’s Liquefied Petroleum  Gas Administrator. Authored by Rep. John Paul Jordan (R-Yukon) and Sen. Marty Quinn (R-Claremore) Senate Bill 1520 is “modifying job requirements for Liquefied Petroleum gas Administrator” and …

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Oklahoma Not One of Greenest States in US

A new report shows Oklahoma and the states surrounding it are some of the “least Green” states in the country. The report by WalletHub ranked Oklahoma 44th lowest in the nation in an environmental study based on 23 key metrics such as LEED-certified buildings per capita, energy consumption and renewable resources. Texas came in 43, …

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Billionaire Buffett Knows Money is to be Made in Wind Industry

Billionaire Warren Buffett obviously sees something in the wind industry….there’s money to be made! A report from the American Wind Energy Association shows his Berkshire Hathaway Energy is now the top US ranked investor owned utility group for wind power.  The firm surpassed Xcel Energy in 2017 with 6.751 GW owned or under contract. BHE …

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Judge Rules Against Indian Tribes in Continuing Fight over North Dakota Pipeline

A loss for two Indian tribes still fighting the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, the one that saw thousands of protesters encamped last year around the line. Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ruled this week against the tribes’ request to be consulted more on an oil spill response plan at the pipeline. He …

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Ardmore Firm Wins Nearly $2.5 million in Energy Department Grants

An Oklahoma firm is among those receiving some of $99 million in grants announced recently by the U.S. Department of Energy. Amethyst Research Inc. of Ardmore received two separate grants out of the 82 awarded to 69 small businesses in 26 states. The largest totaled $1,499,998 under the description of “Resonant Cavity Light Emitting Diodes …

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Permian Basin Land Rush is Reported to Be Over

For oil and gas players like Devon Energy of Oklahoma City and WPX Energy of Tulsa, the so-called “great Permian Basin land rush”, as described by the Houston Chronicle, is over. Ended. The big boys have spoken. So proclaimed the newspaper in a story this week which indicated most of the land has been leased …

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Walmart Doubling EV Charging Stations Nationwide

Walmart is not only expanding its dependency on alternative energy sources, but customers can expect to see more of those EV charging stations at hundreds of stores nationally. The company said it is doubling the number of EV stations and will add several hundred charging stalls at its operations in 34 states. “This expansion will …

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Xcel Energy to Start Using Drones to Monitor Transmission Lines

Drones will be used extensively by Xcel Energy beginning this summer as the Minneapolis-based company uses them to survey transmission lines near Denver, Colorado. Xcell Energy, a firm in the process of building more than $1.6 billion in new transmission lines in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma announced it will be the first utility nationwide …

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