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Conservation measure didn’t get support of some Oklahoma Representatives
Three of Oklahoma’s members of the House voted against the Great American Outdoors Act as it was passed Wednesday on a 310-107 vote. Reps. Tom Cole, Kevin Hern and Frank Lucas cast no votes. Fellow Republican Rep, Markwayne Mullin did not vote on the measure that Democrats hailed as one of the most significant …
Energy news in brief
** Kinder Morgan lost $637 million in the second quarter as it wrote down the value of its pipelines in states such as North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. ** Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer criticized Enbridge Inc. on Wednesday for what she described as the company’s refusal to make an airtight pledge to pay for damages caused by a …
Superfund site in Collinsville is cleaned up and set to be removed from EPA list
State and federal environmental officials have announced they want to remove a longtime Collinsville pollution site removed from the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List for Superfund sites. The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA say remediation and cleanup of the former Tulsa Fuel and Manufacturing Superfund site has been completed and …
Nearly 500 more workers are losing their jobs in Oklahoma due to COVID-19
COVID-19 hit home this week as another nearly 500 workers in Oklahoma are losing their jobs or being directly affected by the pandemic. They work for restaurants at Oklahoma City’s major airport, some are employed at an energy firm in Tulsa and others are employees of a Walmart store. Some of the restaurants at …
Replacing coal-fired electric power in NW New Mexico creates a new challenge
The largest utility in New Mexico is transitioning away from coal-fired generation, and that means by the summer of 2022 it must have other electricity sources ready to provide the power that it currently receives from the San Juan Generating Station. Those replacement sources must be approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, which regulates …
Nebraska utility won’t convert power plant to run on hydrogen
The largest electric utility in Nebraska is backing off plans to convert part of an older fossil fuel plant to hydrogen. It reached the agreement with a manufacturer that will become the utility’s largest private customer. The Nebraska Public Power District in 2018 said it had contracted with Monolith Materials to buy all …
Southwest Power Pool could add more than 5 GW of wind generation capacity
The amount of wind power is growing across the U.S. and the Southwest Power Pool, of which Oklahoma is a member, could add more than 5 GW of wind generation capacity by the end of 2020, on top of the nearly 650 MW already added to the grid this year, according to grid operator …
California company buys electrical power from Texas wind farm
Some of the power produced by a southwest Texas wind project is being purchased by a California solar cell manufacturer. Applied Materials Inc., a company with 21,000 employees and headquartered in Santa Clara, California announced it is buying electricity from Apex Clean Energy’s 500-MW White Mesa wind project according to a report by Renewables …
Hundreds of Louisiana oilfield workers lose their jobs with BJ Services bankruptcy filing
When 90 workers in Yukon, Oklahoma received word this week their jobs would be lost following the bankruptcy filing of BJ Services, the filing also jolted nearly 300 workers in northwest Louisiana. As KTAL/KMSS reported, 273 workers in Shreveport where BJ Services has operations, will also be out of work beginning Aug. 2. The …
Elon Musk didn’t pick Tulsa but he still praised the city
Even though Elon Musk chose Austin, Texas to be the site of his Tesla truck plant, he still believes Tulsa has a lot to offer. It’s what he said Wednesday after announcing the selection of his plant that will employ thousands. “Thank you very much to the Tulsa team, the economic development team and …