Higher spending on lobbying failed to prevent delay of Keystone XL project

WASHINGTON - TransCanada, the pipeline company pushing the recently rejected Keystone XL project, spent $410,000 on federal lobbying during the last three months of 2011, a new quarterly high for the company.

The total is $20,000 more than TransCanada spent in the previous quarter and nearly double the $220,000 it spent in the second quarter of 2011. Altogether, the company paid $1.33 million on lobbying in D.C. last year.

TransCanada was seeking State Department approval of the proposed 1,702-mile-long Keystone XL pipeline. The $7 billion project will connect Canadian tar sands deposits to Texas refineries.

Oil industry launches ad campaign to tout Keystone XL approval

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Petroleum Institute is launching a new advertising and media campaign designed to boost support for domestic oil production and the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would deliver Canadian tar sands crude to Gulf Coast refineries.

The campaign, dubbed "Keys to the Future," is the latest bid by the oil industry’s largest U.S. trade group to advance the controversial pipeline project, which is currently under State Department review.

Ads are already running in inside-the-Beltway publications distributed on Capitol Hill. Online and print advertising also will appear in nine key states: Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

API President Jack Gerard told reporters that the "campaign will help policy makers and the public understand the oil and natural gas industry is a major and constructive force in rebuilding our economy and that it stands ready to do much more."

The advertising push is focusing first on energy security. API is touting its blueprint for weaning the U.S. off oil imported from countries outside North America. Under the analysis, the U.S. could get 92 percent of its liquid energy needs domestically and from Canada by 2030 - compared to 62 percent today.

But that forecast assumes the U.S. approves the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oilsands crude from Alberta to southeast Texas. It also is contingent on a jump in biofuels production, from eight percent today to 14 percent in 2030.

API’s prediction also is wedded to boosted domestic oil and gas production both on and offshore - including in areas such as along the Pacific Coast where there is strong resistance to offshore drilling.

API has been lobbying Congress and the administration for increased access to domestic oil and gas reserves and approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.

"It’s taken policymakers far too long to take these constructive steps to generate jobs and generate revenues to the federal government," Gerard said.

Critics argue that there's no guarantee that boosted domestic oil and gas drilling - or even imported products from Canada - would remain in the U.S., especially given that the U.S. was a net exporter of petroleum products in February and March, even as gas prices soared.

Opponents of Keystone XL object to lobbyist from Clinton campaign

WASHINGTON - A statement issued by Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska said a Dec. 9 letter from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured him that "the department won't consider the pipeline permit application (for the TransCanada Keystone XL) until the environmental study is done and the department has taken into account all state and federal views about the proposal."

The environmental community is nonetheless calling for the Secretary of State to recuse herself from the decision expected in 2011. Public statements she made in California in October indicate Clinton was already inclined to approve the Keystone XL project, and the groups also now claim there's a potential conflict of interest involving a TransCanada lobbyist who previously worked for Secretary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Due to the international nature of Keystone XL, the U.S. State Department is in charge of TransCanada's request for a presidential permit to build and operate a 1,702-mile pipeline to carry heavy crude oil from oil sands mines in the province of Alberta and across six states to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

Nelson and other Nebraskans are worried that almost 300 miles of proposed pipeline through 14 counties in their home state has the potential to irreversibly damage an aquifer.

Three watchdog groups are now seeking any correspondence between the State Department and Paul Elliott, a former presidential campaign manager for Hillary Clinton. Elliott is the chief Washington, D.C. lobbyist for TransCanada.

"One of the concerns is that Hillary Clinton has already made up her mind on this pipeline," Stephen Porter, director of the climate change program at the Washington office of the Center for International Environmental Law told Elizabeth McGowan at Solve Climate News in an interview. "Naturally, we are curious to know what kinds of communications there have been. At this point, we don’t know whether there is any connection. If there are connections that aren’t quite right, we want to make those known."

Florida Power & Light suspends long-term projects, hints at job cuts

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida Power & Light and its suppliers on Jan. 14 denounced state regulators' decision to reject nearly all of the company's $1.3 billion rate increase, calling the ruling politically motivated and short-sighted, though business and consumer groups hailed it as sound.
Florida Power & Light, which spent $6 million and 10 months lobbying state regulators to raise the rates its customers pay by $1.3 billion, on Jan. 13 got virtually nothing.
The Public Service Commission unanimously rejected the company's request to raise its base rates 30 percent, allowing an increase of only $75.4 million - about 75 cents a month on a 1,000-kilowatt-hour bill.
The commission dismissed nearly every major issue FPL raised, saying that in a better economy the company might have done better. “Utilities are just going to have to make do in these difficult economic times,” said Commissioner Nathan Skop.
Because of a reduction in fuel costs, FPL's 4.5 million customers will pay about $13 a month less for 1,000 kilowatt hours in 2010 than they did in 2009 for the same amount of electricity. The savings take effect this month.
The commission rejected every major piece of FPL's argument - from its request to be allowed to award $49 million in executive compensation to its request to be able to set aside an additional $150 million for future storm damage. The commission also rejected the recommendation of its staff - which suggested the company be allowed to raise its rates $357 million.
FPL focused on the impact the decision will have on potential jobs, announcing on Jan. 13 that the company will suspend about $10 billion in planned capital projects in Florida over the next five years.
Among the suspended long-term projects: the construction of two new reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear plant, a natural-gas pipeline, modernization of the Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral plants and upgrades to its transmission and distribution systems.
FPL said it will continue to seek a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the nuclear reactors, but it won't take any steps toward construction beyond what is required to receive the license.
Officials remained silent about any layoffs, but the company made plans to internally broadcast a town hall-style meeting with employees.
Public Counsel J.R. Kelly, who represented customers in the rate case, said that the commission's ruling should have no impact on employee jobs because the ruling allowed the company to continue collecting the revenues it needs to provide safe, adequate and reliable service at a quality level.
In Orlando, Siemens Energy said the decision could threaten 250 jobs it had intended to create as part of a contract to supply gas turbines over the next five years and provide service to FPL's Riviera Beach and Cape Canaveral plants.
The head of FPL's parent company said the PSC's decision to reject all but $75.4 million of the company's request indicated a worsening regulatory environment that has already started to scare off investors.
FPL and Progress Energy had asked for a $500 million rate increase but got nothing from the PSC during a Jan. 11 hearing.

Natural gas industry amasses $80 million war chest to lobby Senate

WASHINGTON - The natural-gas industry - after failing to lobby on the energy-climate bill passed by the House - has amassed an $80 million war chest to ensure it gets a shot at the legislation in the Senate.
"The natural-gas industry wasn't at the table," said Josh Dorner, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, an environmental group that lobbied heavily on the bill. "And if you aren't at the table, you're on the menu."
The 1,428-page bill holds something for every key industry - coal, utilities, autos, wind and solar - but nothing for natural gas.
"The natural-gas industry was done in by its own complacency," said Keith Rattie, chief executive of Salt Lake City-based natural-gas producer Questar Inc.
But the industry and its allies are girding for a lobbying blitzkrieg in the Senate.
Colorado Democratic Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet both say they will take up the fight.
Rattie said that in addition to the big money raised, the industry has a new organization, America's Natural Gas Alliance, to fill a lobbying void in Washington.
"We were just setting up when the key House negotiations were under way," said Rod Lowman, the alliance's chief executive.
Right now, the bill's only program for natural gas is a study on the effectiveness of compressed natural gas as a transportation fuel.
The bill includes $60 billion for clean-coal technology, financial incentives for making electric cars and a national renewable-energy standard that would boost demand for wind and solar power.

Industry spending on lobbying increases, more goes to Democrats

ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and other energy companies have increased the amount they are spending on lobbying this year as Congress crafts new climate and energy legislation.
Devon Energy spent more in the second quarter lobbying lawmakers than it did all of last year, mostly on climate-change and energy proposals, according to a report filed this week with the Senate. "This is a very unusual time in Washington," said Devon spokesman Chip Minty. "It's an extremely challenging environment."
The American Petroleum Institute has increased its spending from $2.3 million in the first six months of 2008 to $3.7 million so far this year. API spokesman Robert Dodge says the increase reflects changes in the "political world" with the new Obama administration and a strengthened Democratic position in Congress.
According to an article by Jeanne Cummings in Politico.com on July 21,
Behind the new API drive is Jack Gerard, who took the helm at API last fall after three years at the American Chemical Council. During his tenure there, Gerard transformed the trade association from a Republican-bent insider's club to a more bipartisan, grass-roots-oriented player.