Archives for August 2012

By Todd Richmond, The Associated Press August 1, 2012

MADISON, Wis. – U.S. officials are demanding Calgary-based oil giant Enbridge submit a re-start plan before it can re-open a pipeline which spilled thousands of gallons of crude in Wisconsin last week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced Tuesday it has blocked Enbridge’s Houston-based subsidiary from reopening the 687 kilometre line.

Administration officials must approve a re-start plan that establishes leak patrols and details co-ordination with local emergency workers before the company can resume operations.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement that he plans to meet with company officials soon.

He said they’ll have to convince him why the pipeline should continue to operate without an overhaul or complete replacement.

The pipeline carries crude oil to Chicago-area refineries. It ruptured Friday, spraying about 1,200 barrels, or about 50,400 gallons, of crude into a pasture just east of Grand Marsh, Wis., in Adams County. The cause of the spill is still unknown.

“Pipelines operate safely across the country every single day,” LaHood said. “That’s why accidents, like the one in Wisconsin, are absolutely unacceptable.”

Enbridge (TSX:ENB) said it’s not unusual for the administration to issue such an order and the company is already working on complying.

Enbridge spokeswoman Lorraine Little said in an email that repairs to the pipeline should be complete by Thursday and the company is preparing a re-start plan.

“The safety of people who live and work near our pipelines and the environment is Enbridge’s top priority,” she said.

Enbridge officials said the spill was quickly contained and no one was hurt.

State Department of Natural Resources spokesman Ed Culhane said the pasture’s owner and his wife, as well as a woman, her daughter and her mother were evacuated from two homes near the rupture because the air was full of benzene, a chemical that can cause cancer.

Some cattle and horses also had to be rinsed off, he said.

The company managed to vacuum up between 12,600 and 21,000 gallons, Culhane said. The pasture doesn’t have any surface water, he said, and no wildlife was affected.

The company is currently working to skim off the contaminated soil and dispose of it and the company’s contractors are beginning to test ground water for contamination, he said.

The pipeline safety administration issued a nine-page order requiring Enbridge to submit the re-start plan.

The order also calls for additional corrective measures, saying the line crosses multiple rivers, highways and population centres.

The requirements include completing an analysis of the failed pipe; contracting with an independent operator to evaluate the company’s procedures, maintenance history and repair decisions; submitting a plan for long-term testing on the line; and submitting monthly reports on testing and repairs.

The order also questioned the company’s pipeline integrity program, noting tests performed during the pipeline’s construction in 1998 revealed defects in seams in multiple locations and that the pipeline ruptured in January 2007, spilling 63,000 gallons of crude in Clark County.

Another Enbridge pipeline ruptured in July 2010, spilling more than 840,000 gallons of crude near Marshall, Mich.

Province ‘always ready to speak on behalf of Alberta’s interests’

 By Karen Kleiss, Edmonton Journal July 31, 2012

EDMONTON – Environmental groups are geared up to oppose a pipeline that would ship Alberta bitumen to Eastern Canada, opening another front in the public-opinion wars provincial and industry officials are already fighting in B.C. and the United States.

Days after Canada’s National Energy Board approved the first of two Enbridge requests that will bring Alberta crude to refineries in Central Canada, environmental organizations went on the offensive.

They alleged the Calgary-based pipeline company plans to use its Ontario lines to move Alberta bitumen through Central Canada and on to international markets, and urged Ontarians and Quebeckers to demand a public debate.

“If Ontario is to facilitate expansion of the oilsands, then let’s have an open, public debate and proper public scrutiny,” said Albert Koehl, an Ontario-based Ecojustice lawyer who argued the environmental case against Enbridge’s proposal before the National Energy Board.

“We see the obvious impacts of climate change, and at the same time we’re marching full speed ahead on expansion of the tar sands, and these two things have to be reconciled.”

The protests came after Enbridge on Friday won approval to reverse the flow of Line 9A from Sarnia, Ont., to Westover, near Hamilton. In the fall, the company will apply to reverse the flow of Line 9B, from Westover to Montreal.

The lines could eventually carry Alberta oilsands-derived crude to refineries in Ontario and Quebec. From Montreal, Alberta crude could also be exported internationally via the United States, the St. Lawrence Seaway, or through a new pipeline to refineries in Saint John, N.B.

Proponents of that existing west-to-east line once believed it could help establish new markets for Alberta oilsands producers while circumventing environmental opposition to construction of the new Gateway and Keystone pipelines in British Columbia and the United States, respectively.

But environmental groups made it clear Monday they will fight plans to use the existing lines to ship Alberta’s oilsands-derived crude.

“It is not a slam-dunk,” said Steven Guilbeault of Equiterre, a Quebec-based environmental group. “This is a 40-year-old pipeline that wasn’t built to handle the tar sands,” he said, highlighting corrosion and pressure concerns.

Quebec’s environment minister responded Tuesday, pledging his province will “take a very strict approach” to pipeline projects and will carefully review requests under Quebec laws.

“It is important to protect waterways, wetlands and drinking water sources,” Quebec Environment Minister Pierre Arcand said in a statement. “Environmental issues remain central to our concerns.”

He reiterated his commitment to strictly monitor the risks associated with the presence of any pipeline in Quebec, and said the ministry “intends to seek a seat at the table” during NEB hearings.

Enbridge spokesman Graham White said the lines will be used primarily to ship light crude, but that they are safe for transporting oilsands-derived crude, should the need arise.

“We are … ensuring the line is at some point capable of carrying heavier products … because of the expanding oilsands production,” White said. “We want to have that flexibility.”

White said there is no evidence to suggest oilsands-derived crude causes more corrosion inside pipelines than any other product. He pointed to the recent report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, which excoriated Enbridge for its failures but explicitly ruled out internal corrosion as a cause for a massive spill in Michigan.

He said the company is in the process of doing “integrity digs,” excavating the pipelines and testing to ensure it is sound.

The Alberta government acted as an intervener in the NEB hearings on Enbridge’s Line 9A, but made no formal submissions.

In its application for intervener status, the province said it was interested in the proceedings because “the application may impact the marketing of Alberta’s crude oil.

“Alberta will be particularly interested in understanding commercial impacts and benefits associated with the proposed application,” the province said.

Asked whether Alberta has any plans to address the debate in the east, Alberta Energy spokeswoman Janice Schroeder said in an email that “the decision is a federal regulatory decision about a pipeline between two locations in Ontario. Alberta was not involved in that hearing, and it is a commercial decision best addressed by the company and the regulator.

She said the province is “always ready to speak on behalf of Alberta’s interests.”

[email protected]

twitter.com/ablegreporter

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Increase for regulated rate will add $30 to average monthly electricity bill

 By Dave Cooper, Edmonton Journal July 31, 2012

EDMONTON – Power rates for Edmonton-area consumers without contracts will jump almost 28 per cent in August — from 9.03 to 11.54 cents per kilowatt hour, the highest since February.

The 2.51 cent increase will push up the average household’s monthly power bill by about $30.

By comparison, the rate last August hit 12.9 cents, while the rate for August, 2010, was 8.3 cents. Transmission and administration costs make up the other half of the average power bill.

“There are two periods each year when we see higher prices in the wholesale power market, when it is really cold or really hot,” said Epcor Utilities spokesman Tim LeRiche.

Epcor buys power for 600,000 city and regional customers under the regulated rate option (RRO). The firm has been trying to convince the province to let it purchase power over a longer period — more than the five to 45 days in advance of the delivery month. Firms which offer contracts oppose the move.

“While August is high, we have already bought some power for September delivery and feel the RRO rate could subside then.”

LeRiche said the July 9 Edmonton blackouts, when power prices hit the maximum of $999 per megawatt hour for a four hour stretch after four generators went down within a few hours, had no effect on monthly average wholesale prices.

“We had already bought our power for August at that point, and the average was still around $50 MWh.

Market demand is behind the wholesale price jump for August since all of Alberta’s generators are operating normally.

Epcor does not sell contracts, but the other large players — Calgary’s Enmax and Direct Energy — both sell power contracts to consumers.

However, there are plenty of smaller firms and co-ops that are now part of the mix for consumers who want contracts, says Nick Clark, managing partner of Utility Network & Partners Inc.

His company operates what is called boutique retailing, with nine retailers operating under his umbrella, using common back office services.

“In the past, the major barrier to entry in Alberta’s deregulated market has been the massive complexity in data processing, metering, load settlement, customer billing. We automated these functions and today we provide a number of retailers all over Alberta with an easy way to plug into the concept of cloud computing and use our centralized data hub for processing transactions,” said Clark.

Five new small independent retailers will start offering retail prices to consumers soon.

They are: Island Energy, focused on the Edmonton market, and run by Harold Seibert who also owns a satellite communications network focused on ethnic programing; Peace Power in Grande Prairie, run by Chad Mielke, a young entrepreneur; Northern Lights, the competitive retail arm of North Parkland REA operating out of Lac La Biche; Sponsor Energy headed up by Carolyn Martin and Peter Piliounis, a venture focused on creating a retail business linked to fundraising initiatives; NewGen Energy, founded by David McDonald, Jim Floyd and Larry Peters, will be initially focused on the farming and irrigation community in southern Alberta.

The current small firms using Clark’s services are Adagio, Brighter Futures, Bow Valley, E. NRG, Milner, Mountain View, Spark, Spot Power and Vector.

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal