PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona Corporation Commission member who has been seeking documents from the state’s largest electric utility on its possible political spending has hired an attorney to analyze how outside interests may be influencing utility regulators’ decisions. [Commissioner Bob Burns said Tuesday he’s hired attorney Scott Hempling to do the analysis for the …
Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman approved 36 interim studies on Wednesday. “These interim studies will give Senators the chance to take a more in-depth look at the issues that are important to them and their constituents. The state constitution puts a lot of time constraints on the legislative process, so interim studies are …
Weeks after Chesapeake Energy settled hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty lawsuits in Fort Worth, Texas, the company’s been sued by the Mansfield school district. The district, located southeast of Fort Worth accused Chesapeake of sham transactions to cheat it out of more than $1 million from its natural gas leases, according to a …
More than two weeks after a U.S. House committee subpoenaed New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a dispute over his politically-driven probe of Exxon Mobil, Schneiderman has been sued by two conservative environmental law groups. The Free Market Environmental Law Clinic and the Energy and Environment Legal Institute sued him for investigating Exxon and …
U.S. ethanol production bounced back up 6,000 barrels a day this week hitting an average of 1,0004 million barrels a day according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The four-week average for ethanol turned out to be a record at an average of 1.009 million barrels a day. Stocks grew by one percent from …
The combination of the government’s war on coal and slumping prices has resulted in Pittsburgh-based Kennametal Inc. announcing it is laying off 1,000 workers over the next 15 months. The company cites weak demand for the coal-mining and gas-drilling cutting tools that it makes. Kennametal has a workforce of 12,000, down about 2,000 from what …
Vandals thought to be environmental activists are suspected of damaging three oil pipeline construction sites in central Iowa. It occurred at the Dakota Access pipeline and Jasper County Sheriff John Hafferty says there’s little doubt the fires were intentionally set. He estimated damage to a bulldozer and other large-tracked equipment at $1 million. It was early …
Just as city leaders in Albuquerque, New Mexico anticipated work to begin this week on a new Rapid Transit system, business owners went to court and the Denver federal appeals court halted the project. Business owners cried foul over what the Albuquerque Rapid Transit or ART would do to the character of Route 66, the …
As the commission tasked with reviewing some of the tax credit programs in Oklahoma meets Wednesday, Oklahoma’s Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services says the commission is already on track to do a good and effective job. Writing in this month’s Oklahoma Economic Report, issued through the state Treasurer’s office, Preston Doerflinger …
From trails for bicycles and pedestrians to fixing a highway plagued by landslides, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission took action in favor of several projects this week. As News on 6 reported on its website, repairs were okayed for a highway in northeastern Oklahoma. Commissioners voted in favor of fixing landslide damage on Highway 51 between Sand …