Energy In-depth: Honorable’s FERC Nomination Clears Senate Panel

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HONORABLE FERC NOMINATION HEADS TO FULL SENATE
After a day of delay, Arkansas Public Service Commission chairwoman Colette Honorable received a formal vote from a key panel to advance her nomination as commissioner on the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

President Obama nominated Honorable for the post in August to replace John Norris, who resigned Aug. 20.

On Thursday, a quorum was officially present at the Senate Natural Resources Committee for a formal vote to take place on Honorable’s nomination. She testified before the committee last week.

From Natural Gas Intelligence’s daily coverage:

“A majority of the members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee gathered this morning off the Senate floor to approve by voice vote moving Honorable’s nomination out of committee,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the ranking Republican member of the committee.

Committee members had been expected to vote through Honorable’s nomination at a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, but with too few members in attendance to constitute a quorum, they were forced to adjourn without a vote.

“I believe Miss Honorable has demonstrated her knowledge of utility issues, her qualifications and ability to serve on the FERC through her distinguished service on the Arkansas Public Service Commission and as chair of NARUC [the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners],” committee Chairman Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said Wednesday. “She’s highly regarded by her peers; she’s well respected by the industry and consumer groups, and I’m very favorably impressed by her experience and knowledge, her understanding of the issues, and her ability to work with others, which is so important in this position.”

Honorable has received bipartisan praise during the nomination process, including Arkansas’ two U.S. Senators, Mark Pryor-D and John Boozman-R. With approval from the Natural Resources panel, Honorable proceeds to the full Senate for confirmation. The timetable for that has not been set, although it could come as early as Friday or by end of the year.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK IS IN SEARCH OF A POLITICAL BARGAIN ON ENERGY
Retired General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and one-time Democratic Presidential candidate, has written a new book that suggests the key to America’s best opportunity to lead the free world involves energy independence to strengthen the economy.

In an interview on Talk Business & Politics last Sunday, Clark said his book, “Don’t Wait For The Next War,” is not a prelude to another Presidential run, but an effort to instigate a new national dialogue. Citing the need for a more comprehensive U.S. energy policy, Clark said, “It’s the single most important concept in America’s future right now. We have a chance with the shale boom revolution to stop importing foreign oil.”

Read more or watch a video of his TB&P interview here.

ADEQ PLANS MEETINGS ON OZONE RULES, CLEAN POWER RULE MEETINGS WILL WAIT UNTIL JUNE
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has scheduled its first stakeholders’ meeting a week before Christmas to discuss ozone and particulate matter rules that meet federal Clean Air quality standards.

The meeting comes only weeks after Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel both asked Environmental Protection Agency Chief Gina McCarthy to withdraw the agency’s proposed rules to cut the nation’s carbon emissions that threatens to shut down part of Arkansas’ coal-fired electric generation.

Although the ozone and carbon emissions are part of the same wide-ranging federal Clean Air Act, both are governed by a different set of standards and rules. The first meeting on ongoing ozone standards will take place at ADEQ’s Northshore headquarters in North Little Rock at 1 p.m. on Dec. 18, less than three weeks after the public comment period ended on the so-called “greenhouse gas” regulations.

Read more of what’s on tap at this link. And, read more of when a stakeholders’ group working on Pres. Obama’s Clear Power Plan rule may reconvene here.

ENTERGY ARKANSAS TO BUY STAKE IN UNION POWER STATION FOR $237 MILLION
Entergy Arkansas said it has signed an agreement to acquire a portion of the Union Power Station near El Dorado for $237 million. The total plant purchase price is $948 million, but Entergy Arkansas is only acquiring one of the four generation facilities that comprise Union Power Station. The purchase price is approximately half the cost to build a comparable new CCGT facility, Entergy said. The station is owned by Union Power Partners, L.P., an independent power producer and wholly owned by Entegra TC LLC.