By Raj Lahoti and Miguel Suazo Texas has heightened scrutiny of data centers seeking to connect to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. For developers, the question is increasingly not just whether a project can connect, but how much grid power it will need. On August 3, Governor Greg Abbott directed the Public […]
By Ahuva Battams On July 30, 2026, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) convened a joint meeting of the Gas Pipeline and Liquid Pipeline Advisory Committees. The committees discussed a pending rulemaking (the Notice) that would narrow PHMSA’s authority to condition special permits. Having handled special permits as a PHMSA regulator, as in-house […]
By Chris Colclasure Oil and gas companies and others who handle methane will face new requirements if the state adopts a rule proposed by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The proposal builds on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for methane super-emitter events and for process controllers but goes further. While the proposal primarily […]
By Miguel Suazo, Devon Bell, and DeAnza Valencia The U.S. Supreme Court recently accepted a settlement ending the 13-year Rio Grande dispute involving New Mexico, Texas, and the federal government. The conflict followed a series of droughts and lawsuits over the division of Rio Grande water. In 2013, Texas brought the dispute to the U.S. […]
By Ahuva Battams H.R. 9338, the Pipeline Safety Authorization Act of 2026, advanced out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with bipartisan support. Among its enforcement provisions, the bill would require the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to provide formal hearings in certain enforcement proceedings and establish protocols for making those hearings […]
By Ahuva Battams Operators who attended the Railroad Commission of Texas’ session In the Field: Ensuring Compliance for Inactive Wells at this year’s Regulatory Conference walked away with something rare: a clear picture of what inspectors actually evaluate in the field. RRC staff walked through the criteria in detail and flagged the violations they see […]
By Miguel Suazo, DeAnza Valencia, and Jacob Everhart The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (“PRC”) has advanced extensive revisions to New Mexico’s Community Solar Rule, 17.9.573 NMAC. The amendments would substantially reshape project selection, interconnection review, subscriber protections, low-income participation, consolidated billing, and ongoing compliance obligations for subscriber organizations and qualifying utilities. The revisions follow […]
By Ahuva Battams The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has proposed a new approach to pipeline repair decisions. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would revise repair criteria for gas transmission and hazardous liquid pipelines. Comments are due September 8, 2026. For decades, federal repair criteria have relied heavily on defect dimensions. PHMSA […]
By Ahuva Battams and Raj Lahoti Summer heat isn’t just uncomfortable for field crews — it’s one of the most underestimated threats to pipeline integrity. As temperatures climb across Texas and the Southwest, operators need to be thinking proactively about how extreme heat affects their systems and what regulators expect them to do about it. […]
By Ahuva Battams, Miguel Suazo, DeAnza Valencia, and Raj Lahoti On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued tailored show cause orders under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act to each of the six regional grid operators under its jurisdiction (Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO) or Independent System Operators (ISO)). FERC directed them to […]