Northern New Mexico is the site of what will become the nation’s first hydrogen microgrid. The federal government granted funds in January in the last month of the Biden adminsitration to New Mexico’s Kit Carson Electric Cooperative and now the firm has begun a hydrogen safety assessment project in order to show the value …
Energy briefs
** A historic milestone was reached in the United States in March. For the first time ever, cleaner, low-carbon energy sources generated more electricity than fossil fuels. According to data from Ember, a nonprofit focused on energy, the share of fossil fuels in the country’s energy production fell to 49.2%. ** A 1.3 gigawatt (GW) solar …
Defiant waste disposal firm hit with emergency earthquake order in Permian Basin
An oilfield disposal company is ordered to shut down its injection of wastewater deep underground to stop earthquakes. Sound familiar? It’s what happened over the past several years in Oklahoma following an increase of earthquakes, ranging from weak to strong ones that caused significant damage. But in this latest case, it’s action taken by the …
Gas-powered plants needed for data center in Louisiana
Meta is under pressure from one U.S. Senator to offer an explanation about the pollution its massive new AI data center under construction in Louisiana might cause once it’s operational. The center is so big that a Louisiana utility is building three new gas-fired power plants to provide enough electricity. But it caught …
Law promoting natural gas usage ruled unconstitutional in Washington State
Promoting natural gas in the name of electricity generation—it’s the centerpiece of a recent bill allowed by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt to become law without his signature. SB998 was also part of the negotiation for a budget agreement reached last week and announced by the governor and legislative leaders. However,the issue of promoting …
Regulators decide fate of PSO’s Green Country power plant purchase
Customers of Public Service Company of Oklahoma should learn later Monday whether Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners might reject the utility’s request to raise rates to pay for a $730 million purchase of the Green Country power plant in Jenks. Commissioners will meet at 1:30 in the afternoon to consider one item on the agenda …
Mitchell talks energy with Jerry Bohnen–could a PSO rate hike be turned down?
Instead of a rate hike for one major utility, could Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners reject the latest proposed bump in monthly bills for consumers? It’s a big subject of our latest Mitchell Talks Energy with Jerry Bohnen as they discuss what regulators are asked to do with a $753 million rate hike request by Public …
Crude oil prices had second straight week of gains
Crude oil prices finished up on Friday and at the same time accomplished a second straight week of gains. A couple of things affected prices. One is the easing of US-China trade tensions and the other is prices were held back by expectations of higher production from Iran and OPEC+. West Texas intermediate crude …
Drone operator to open technology center at Osage Nation
The Swiss company WindShape will soon be up and running with its headquarters right outside of downtown Tulsa, near the Osage Casino at Skyway 36. WindShape will be recreating weather patterns to see how drones operate and behave in them to advance technology. Skyway 36 stretches 1,200 square miles within the Osage Nation …
Oil and gas rig count unchanged in Oklahoma but declining nationally
As the U.S. recorded a decline in the number of active oil and gas rigs, Oklahoma’s count in the past week was unchanged at 55 rigs. It was a second week for the national count to show a loss. The Baker Hughes rig count released on Friday showed the U.S. count declined by …