American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 31
designated as sage grouse focal areas
(SFAs) in six states.
According to BLM Acting Director
Mike Nedd, the sage grouse plans were
adopted to direct management of public
lands in 10 Western states. "The BLM is
committed to being a good neighbor and
cooperating with its partners at all levels
of government-including states-as well
as with tribal leaders, industry, conservation groups and ranchers," he says.
Nedd mentions that the notice of intent
was prompted, in part, by a March ruling
by the U.S. District Court for the District
of Nevada that BLM failed to adequately
evaluate the designation of SFAs in its
sage grouse land-use plan amendment
for Nevada, and also was a response to
the Aug. 4 report prepared by DOI's Sage
Grouse Review Team.
That report, which was required by
Secretarial Order 3353, made nine shortand long-term recommendations for improving the sage grouse plans (AOGR,
September 2017, pg. 35). According to
BLM's Federal Register notice, among
the specific issues on which the agency
is seeking comments are SFA designations, mitigation standards, lek buffers
in all habitat management area types,
disturbance and density caps, habitat
boundaries to reflect new information,
and reversing adaptive management responses when BLM determines that resource conditions no longer warrant
those responses.
"During this process, we are particularly interested in hearing from the many
governors whose states put hard work
and time into collaborative efforts to
develop the existing plans," remarks
Nedd, who adds that BLM wants input
on whether the planning effort should
occur through state-by-state amendment
processes.
Reactions Differ
The Western Energy Alliance gave
BLM's announcement a thumbs-up. "We
are very pleased BLM is moving forward
with amending the sage grouse plans,"
responds Sgamma. "The attitude of this
Interior Department, which is much more
interested in real collaboration with states
and counties, is welcome after the prior
administration's process that ignored real
threats to sage grouse and exaggerated
impacts from human activities."
She adds, "The oil and natural gas
measures in the plans were unnecessarily
draconian and disregarded the hundreds
of measures that companies have implemented to protect sage grouse."
However, a couple Western state gov-
ernors were somewhat more guarded, raising concerns about a possible endangered
species listing for the sage grouse, according
to published reports. Colorado Governor
John Hickenlooper is quoted saying, "We
are concerned that DOI could upset the
balance in Colorado and other Western
states on greater sage grouse conservation,"
which he credits with keeping the bird off
the endangered species list.
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead observes that endangered designations are
universal. "If it was a state-by-state decision, that would be one thing. But if one
state gets listed, we all are going to get
listed," he reflects.
"Folks representing energy, agriculture, recreation and conservation all
came together to help frame the state's
plan to ensure a strong habitat for sage
grouse in Wyoming," Mead is quoted
saying. "There are positive changes that
can be made to the federal plans, but we
should be careful and thoughtful about
how we do that."
In its announcement that it is lifting
the mining ban on 10 million acres in six
states, BLM says data show that mining
affects less than 0.1 percent of sage
grouse-occupied range. "The proposal to
withdraw 10 million acres to (protect)
10,000 from potential mineral development
was a complete overreach," Nedd characterizes.
He says the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's 2005 not-warranted decision, its
2010 warranted-but-precluded decision
and the 2015 not-warranted decision all
showed that mining was not a significant
threat to sage grouse.
Electrical Grid
Oil and gas groups expressed concerns
regarding a Sept. 29 announcement by
DOE that it was urging FERC to issue a
rule requiring regional electric grid operators to "implement reforms that will
fully price generation resources necessary
to maintain the reliability and resiliency
of our nation's grid."
The announcement cites a staff report
DOE says "shows that while today's grid
is reliable, market distortions are threatening its resilience and the future of
American energy security."
A letter dated Sept. 28 from Secretary
Perry to the three FERC commissioners
contends, "Distorted price signals . . .
have resulted in undervaluation of grid
reliability and resiliency benefits provided
by traditional base-load resources such
as coal and nuclear."
The letter says the rule DOE wants
FERC to implement under Section 403
of the Department of Energy Organization
Act "will ensure that each eligible reliability and resiliency resource will recover
its fully allocated costs."
The letter specifies that an eligible
unit must have a 90-day fuel supply on
site.
In expressing her dismay at the directive, Natural Gas Supply Association
President and CEO Dena Wiggins says,
"We agree that our electric grid must
rely on a diverse fuel mix that includes
all fuels. However, introducing market
distortions and fuel preferences into the
energy mix is a disservice to consumers
and contrary to the nondiscriminatory
principles of the Federal Power Act.
"Wholesale power markets should not
turn their backs on the benefits that competitive markets have brought to consumers
simply because some do not like the outcome," Wiggins adds.
API Executive Vice President and
Chief Strategy Officer Marty Durbin expresses "concern the agency has mischaracterized the lessons learned from
past weather-related events and appears
to suggest that additional regulation is
the answer where markets have proven
the ability to greatly benefit consumers
and give our electric system the flexibility
needed to meet constantly, and often rapidly, changing electricity demands."
Durbin notes that natural gas generates
33.8 percent of the nation's electricity
today, compared with 24.0 percent in
2010, resulting in an estimated $1,337
per household savings in 2015 energy
costs. "We need to be careful that government doesn't put its thumb on the
scale. It is better to let markets choose,"
he advises.
IPAA likewise says it "finds the intent
of DOE's directive disturbing," worrying
that it "has serious implications for competitive power markets in general and for
natural gas demand by electric generators."
IPAA says it and its 24 state cooperating
associations requested FERC extend the
comment period on the proposed rule,
but TIPRO reports that request subsequently was denied.
The Texas Alliance of Energy Producers quotes reports that in an Oct. 12
hearing before the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, Secretary Perry
said he merely was trying to start a conversation.
"As an elected official, I never wanted
to have to explain to somebody why we
didn't have the vision to put in place a
reliable and resilient electrical power system," the Alliance quotes Perry.
r
NOVEMBER 2017 31
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017
Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - Contents
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