With a 10% margin of victory over a Democrat challenger, Republican Jim Wright won election Tuesday to the Texas Railroad Commission, extending the Republican party’s control of the energy regulatory agency. Wright, owner of an oilfield waste services company, beat Chrysta Castaneda with a reported 53 to 43% margin while a Libertarian candidate and …
Two days after Oklahoma Corporation Commission Chairman Todd Hiett won re-election, he and commissioners Bob Anthony and Dana Murphy will hold their regular meeting on Thursday. Unless the commissioners decide to attend in person, it will be another virtual meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m. One item of interest is a discussion and possible vote …
Questions remain how ExxonMobil’s layoff of 1,900 workers across the U.S. will affect Oklahoma. Bill Hancock, Business Services and Rapid Response Coordinator for the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development says the layoffs occurred in back office and production. “Wilson, Oklahoma (west of Ardmore) has a few people in production. I do not know if …
A federal court case has stalled plans by Entergy Arkansas to shutdown two of its coal-fired power plants. While Entergy says it planned to move ahead with the closures of the plants in Newark and Redfield, National Public Radio reports that Wyoming spent political “dark money” to derail the plans. Arkansas Business reports that the …
Voters in Arkansas voted this week to permanently extend a half-cent sales tax for highways. Arkansas Business reports the tax had the support of Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson as well as the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Trucking Association. But it had been opposed by the Sierra Club and Americans for …
** Louisiana voters approve a ballot measure to adjust property tax rates on oil and gas wells based on whether they’re in production, according to S&P Global. ** E and E News reports the fate of legislators in Pennsylvania who favor more aggressive climate and clean energy action could be unclear for days as votes continue to be counted. ** Voters approve a …
Drilling interest in Oklahoma is slowly picking up according to the permits to drill approved by Corporation Commissioners. This week’s permits show Citizen Energy III LLC received a permit to drill the LATHAM #2H-14-23, in Canadian County. The drilling site is several miles southwest of the city of El Reno near the Canadian River. 07 …
Four of Oklahoma’s five sitting members of the U.S. House earned major victories in Tuesday’s election, returning two of them to important positions on House energy-related committees. The returning Representatives are Republican and the upset win by Republican Stephanie Bice over Democrat Rep. Kendra Horn returns Oklahoma’s congressional delegation to an all-Republican group. First …
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe skated to another easy re-election win, defeating Democratic challenger Abby Broyles by a nearly two-to-one margin. It means the Republican Senator will return to his longtime seat on the Senate Public Works and Environment Committee, a committee he previously chaired. Broyles, a former TV reporter and attorney campaigned against Inhofe by …
Oklahoma Corporation Commission chairman Todd Hiett won an easy re-election campaign, picking up more than 76% of the votes on Tuesday’s election day. The Republican Commissioner defeated Libertarian challenger Todd Hagopian by a vote of 1,098,561 to 345,002. Hiett scored 76.10% of the votes while Hagopian received only 23.90%. (Todd Hagopian) Absentee voting favored …
