It’s been the Obama Administration’s refrain for several months as the expiration deadline for the Production Tax Credit nears ever closer.The current PTC saves wind farms $22 for every megawatt generated during the 10 years of operation.

Vestas Wind Systems, one of the shining jewels of former Governor Ritter’s New Energy Economy, employs 1,600 workers, but a number of those people could be without a job as the year progresses, according to the manufacturer, if Congress fails to renew the Production Tax Credit.

Given the partisan energy divide in Washington, we’re not taking odds that won’t happen.

Another major incentive for the clean energy sector that President Obama wants to see expanded is a 30 percent tax credit for investments in clean energy manufacturing known as the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit.

Those credits are supporting companies and workers here in Colorado and across the country, Secretary Chu said. Knowing his audience, he went on to laud our state, and pointed out how Colorado leads the way in clean energy; is among the leaders in installed solar capacity and has a renewable portfolio standard in place for several years. “It’s a hub for clean energy manufacturers from GE to Vestas,” Chu added.

Perhaps most importantly, the Secretary said the industry is getting closer to the point where it will be cost-competitive with traditional forms of energy, and not have to rely on federal subsidies. When that will finally happen — if ever — is still open to debate.

“The market is getting bigger, the technology is getting better, and costs are coming down, Chu said.  The question is no longer if clean energy will become competitive with conventional forms of energy; the question is, ‘When will it happen?”

Costs are coming down, too, in a whole other universe of energy production. Next door at the Denver Convention Center, the DUO Reservoirs Conference and Exhibition celebrated the huge boom in shale production with huge crowds, lots of enthusiasm and a highly diverse technical program. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are driving prices down and industry profits up, and that was evident everywhere you went.

“Don’t forget about all the jobs we’re generating for the regional economy, especially in the Niobrara,” one presenter reminded us. “It is going to continue to build with companies like Noble Energy, Bill Barrett Corporation, Anadarko and other operators increasing their well counts in the Wattenberg field and other areas of Colorado and Wyoming.”

A Tale of Two Conferences, for sure.

Jack Gerard, president and chief executive officer at the American Petroleum Institute, said the “shale revolution” is providing jobs and energy security to the United States. Instead of regulating the process, he said, Washington should make it easier for energy companies to move forward.

As we reported last week, the Interior Department floated updated regulations for the hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells on federal and tribal lands, including requiring operators to outline the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing fluid.

While overall oil and gas production is up in the U.S. under the Obama Administration, drilling on federal land has slowed. “It takes more than half a year on average to get a federal drilling permit for development on federal lands,” Gerard said in a statement. He added that delays in the permit process left an estimated 17,000 wells idled in Wyoming.

Gerard said the states should continue to handle the regulation of hydraulic fracturing, which they know how to do well, while the feds address the delays and fix the process.

Tom Doll, Wyoming’s oil and gas supervisor, said well-owner Chesapeake Energy Corp. and drill rig-owner Trinidad Drilling Ltd., won’t face any citations for the blowout, which didn’t cause any injuries but vented up to 2 million cubic feet of explosive gas and 31,500 gallons of drilling fluid into the air and around the drill site near Douglas.

“Word is getting out to other interested people,” Doll said. “So it should be a best management practice and lesson learned that this is something that needs a little more attention, if that’s what we find.” MORE …

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/regulator-no-fines-even-if-workers-caused-gas-well-blowout/article_f10d3680-7411-5739-bc9c-9fbc67c39392.html#ixzz1ur3mNeRS

The projects’ total economic impact over their anticipated 10-15 year lifespan is an estimated $383.5 billion, it said.

The study by SWCA Environmental Consultants noted that most of the wells, 30,789, are proposed in National Environmental Policy Act documents that have been under review for more than 2 years

“Many of these were begun over 5 years ago, delaying projects for years past the usual processing times,” it added.

Outstanding projects delayed for more than 3 years in the 2 states represent 22,835 proposed wells, or about 1,631 wells/year, the study said. “Federal government delays to these projects are preventing the creation of 64,805 jobs, $4.3 billion in wages, and $14.9 billion in economic impact every year,” it said.

“Government delays during the environmental analysis phase are preventing significant job creation and economic activity,” said Kathleen Sgamma, WEA’s vice president of government and public affairs.

The Denver-based regional association of independent producers’ members know first-hand how difficult it is to operate on public lands, Sgamma pointed out.

“Federal policies discourage domestic oil and natural gas production, and put the West at a disadvantage compared to other regions of the country without a preponderance of public lands,”
Sgamma said.

Construction of the 35 Bcf facility started in late September 2011. First gas injections from Northwest Pipeline commenced on May 1, 2012, followed by gas injections from Overthrust Pipeline several days later.
 
Ryckman Creek will have interconnections with five interstate pipelines, all of which are connected to the Opal Hub, including Questar, Ruby and Kern River in addition to Northwest and Overthrust. Gas injections from the various pipeline interconnections will commence in phases over the next few months as each interconnect becomes operational, until reservoir commissioning and pad gas injections have been completed this summer. Commercial operations are scheduled to start by September 1, 2012, with the first injections of customer gas.
 
“Even though we got a late start on construction last fall due to issues beyond our control, we have been able to keep the overall project on schedule, pulling some work originally scheduled for completion in 2013 into this year,” said Darrell Poteet, Peregrine Executive Vice President, Pipelines & Surface Facilities Development & Management. “We battled the Wyoming winter at 7800 feet on the top of a mountain to achieve an in-service date that will allow our customers to start injecting gas this fall and withdraw gas this coming winter. We didn’t want our customers to have to wait until next year for the facility to come online. This would have been a significant accomplishment in any weather, but especially so in freezing cold mountain-top conditions.“
 
Ryckman Creek construction includes six injection/withdrawal wells; two re-entry observation wells and two re-entry/recompletion saltwater disposal wells; a central gas/liquids separation and processing facility; 4.8 miles of new eight-inch diameter storage field flow lines; nearly 4 miles of 16-inch diameter header pipeline; one unidirectional and four bi-directional pipeline interconnects and meter stations; and approximately 30,000 horsepower of electric-drive compression.
 
Initial working gas capacity for Ryckman Creek’s first phase is 18 Bcf for the 2012-13 gas storage season, which will increase to 25 Bcf by spring 2013 and 35 Bcf by spring 2014. A planned Phase II expansion would increase total working gas capacity to 50 Bcf or more depending on market demand. Maximum Phase I injection capability will be 350 MMcfd with a maximum withdrawal capability of 480 MMcfd.

Q & A with Mike King –The Director of the Colorado Department  of Natural Resources shares his thoughts on the current state of oil and gas regulations in Colorado, and the improvements being made at the state level, particularly with the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The ConocoPhillips - Lowry Range leasing agreement represents an unprecedented step in conservation management for state trust lands that clearly demonstrates a commitment from both parties to improve the condition and habitat opportunities of a unique area on the outskirts of Metro Denver.

Wayne Foreman of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck explains why local governments need not and should not overreact to development of the Niobrara.

Plus the latest business briefs, technical updates and real estate news … all in the Premiere Edition of Niobrara Report.

CLICK HERE for more details and advertising information. CLICK HERE to subscribe.

The companies blame the massive amounts of capital needed to pursue a project with a cloudy future due to uncertain federal support.

The move is another indication that without an extension of the federal Production Tax Credit, the wind industry will will continue to suffer.

Since September 2010, Spanish turbine manufacturer Gamesa, with operations in Pennsylvania,  has been working with Newport News Shipbuilding to design a 5-MW prototype with plans to erect a test turbine off the mid-Atlantic coast. The design phase is expected to be completed this year.

The collaborative effort has focused on turbine reliability, low maintenance and servicing requirements, civil engineering efficiencies in infrastructure development, and cost of energy. The companies said on May 7 they are approaching the end of the critical design review (CDR) for the turbine.

 “An analysis of current conditions indicates that a viable commercial market in the United States is still farther out, as much as three or four years away, at the earliest,” the companies said in a statement, making further investment impractical.

Developers in New England said they don’t expect the news in Virginia to impact their own plans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. MORE …

But the plan does not require disclosure ahead of the fracking process, which environmentalists call a major gap in the proposal.

The plan from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management also contains requirements on oil-and-gas well integrity to verify that fluids from the fracking process aren’t escaping into nearby water supplies, and requirements for management of large volumes of so-called flowback water.

Fracking involves high-pressure injections of water, chemicals and sand into shale formations to open seams that enable hydrocarbons to flow.

Industry groups say state oversight is sufficient … Green groups including Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council said the rules don’t go far enough in some critical areas. Earthjustice said the disclosure requirements are inadequate, noting that the disclosure is only mandated after the fracking has occurred.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called it a “common-sense” proposal. MORE >>

The EPA included the Upper Green River Basin in its list of areas nationwide exceeding an ozone standard set in 2008 during the administration of President George W. Bush. Wyoming until today was the only state where all counties had met the federal ozone limit.

“It’s undoubtedly the oil and gas drilling going on out there,” John Walke, clean-air director for the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview. Walke criticized President Barack Obama for throwing out a proposal by the EPA to lower that ozone standard.

Ozone, a precursor to smog, is caused by emissions from vehicle traffic, industrial activities or related projects such as road construction. Gas escaping from wells or pipelines contains volatile organic compounds, which also can cause smog. MORE …

Wasatch Wind of Park City, Utah, is planning to construct two separate but nearby 31-turbine sites along Mormon Canyon Road. When completed, they’re expected to generate a combined 100 megawatts of power.
But Wasatch said in a media release that it will postpone completion of one of the turbine sites, Pioneer Wind Park I, until next year. Construction on the wind turbines had been planned to start this summer.

Wasatch said the delay comes because numerous legal challenges to the project by the Northern Laramie Range Alliance have made it impossible to start generating power on that site by October, forcing the company to break a power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power. MORE …