A Corporation Commissioner who wouldn’t back down. It’s the case in Arizona where a new state regulator challenged one of the state’s largest utilities over its proposed rate hike calculations and after months, it admitted….he was right. Commissioner Rene Lopez challenged Arizona Public Service company over its figures. After winning his challenge, he’s not …
NextEra and solar farm opponents await county commission vote
Wagoner County Commissioners are expected to take a vote Monday on a proposed 4,900-acre solar farm proposed by NextEra Energy and also has its share of opponents around the small town of Porter. NextEra, in its presentation earlier this year to the county commissioners, maintained the Persica Solar Farm would be an economic …
Rate hike fight might end up in court for small eastern Oklahoma town
A legal battle could develop out of the fight between the small eastern Oklahoma town of Arkoma and the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fort Smith provides utilities to the border town of Arkoma and recently proposed a nearly 226% rate hike for Arkoma residents. You can imagine the shock of the Oklahomans …
Oklahoma and US record more oil and gas rig declines
Rig numbers across the U.S. and in Oklahoma took another dip in the past week with a loss in oil rig activity and in natural gas exploration. At the same time, the rig numbers revealed a slow growth of gas drilling activity in the past year. The Baker Hughes report released on Friday showed …
Osage Mineral Council set to expand control
The Osage Minerals Council in Osage County is about to expand its authority over oil and gas and other energy-related industries. The Council, part of the Osage Indian tribe is about to take over management of production, permitting and leasing of the Osage Mineral Estate. It would assume control from the Department of the …
Energy briefs
** The Nuclear Company, a startup founded in 2023, just raised over $50 million in Series A funding to develop a new wave of nuclear reactors, not by designing brand-new ones but by using existing, preapproved designs and sites, according to TechCrunch. ** According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter submitted to the Wisconsin Department …
Another broadband project launched in Oklahoma
A $1.7 million high-speed internet expansion project was officially launched Friday morning in the Pittsburg County town of Crowder by the Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) and internet service provider Canadian Valley Telephone. The project, funded through a $1.3 million federal grant administered by the OBO coupled with $430,000 in matching contributions from Canadian Valley Telephone, …
Empire Petroleum shareholders hold annual meeting
The annual meeting of stockholders at Empire Petroleum Corporation met in the past week to take care of business. Of the 33,712,727 shares in common stock, 29,382,197 were present for the June 12 meeting or by proxy, representing 87.15% of the company’s outstanding shares. The stockholders were asked to vote on three proposals. …
Israel-Iran fighting sent crude oil prices soaring
With Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear weapons development and long-range missile sites and Iran returning in kind with a bombardment of missiles, crude oil prices shot up worldwide, gaining 7% on Friday. As Iranian missiles rained down on Israeli towns and cities Friday, oil prices surged along with gold and the dollar. Gold went …
Court ruling overturns local efforts against carbon capture pipeline in Iowa
Summit Carbon Solutions is celebrating after a recent court victory in which local ordinances aimed at regulating pipelines and putting restrictions on the projects were overturned. Summit is the company attempting to build a 2,500-mile pipeline across five states to carry captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants to a storage site in North …