The action won praise from the state’s oil and gas trade association.

Tisha Schuller, President & CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said that  he immdediately after the meeting and decision, her organization reached out to both Longmont staff and the Longmont operator to begin collaboration.  “Our door has been open and we will continue to make engagement and negotiation our top priority,” she said.

“Fortunately, in Colorado, every aspect of drilling is regulated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), the state agency with technical knowledge of Colorado’s geological basins.  Colorado is recognized as having some of the toughest and most comprehensive rules in the country.

Mike King, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources,  hinted in a letter to the city council that a lawsuit could be in the works if Longmont proceeded with its new rules, the first update of the city’s oil and gas regulations since 2000.

“I intend to consult with my staff, the COGCC (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission), the Colorado Attorney General’s Office and the Governor’s Office on our legal options,” King wrote to the council.

COGA’s Schuller added, “We thank the City Council for demonstrating their pragmatic approach to protecting city interests by prioritizing working through the state process.  We look forward to working with the city in the spirit of collaboration demonstrated in their vote last night.”

Today, Noble Energy, Inc. (Noble), along with Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and U.S. Congressman Cory Gardner celebrated the grand opening of its new 66,500-square-foot operations center in the Highpointe Business Park.

Located on 23 acres, the office serves as a home base for more than 300 Noble employees supporting the company’s Denver Julesburg (DJ) Basin operations.

“We are looking forward to our expanded role in the
Greeley community,” said Ted Brown, Senior VP of the Northern Region of Noble. “The opening of this operations center further demonstrates our commitment to our leadership role in developing the Niobrara formation and continuing to partner with the City of Greeley and the surrounding communities.”

Today’s festivities, hosted by Noble Chairman and CEO Chuck Davidson, included a ribbon cutting ceremony, tour of the office facilities, including the new, state-of-the-art control room and a $5 million check presentation to two Weld County school districts for a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) School Bus Project.

“This facility is a testament to our commitment here in the Greeley area and in Northern Colorado,” said Davidson. “Today is also a special opportunity for us to announce a five-year commitment to the Weld County schools totaling $5 million towards CNG buses and CNG fueling infrastructure, which we
believe will be a tremendous benefit for the
school districts and community.”

In addition to Governor John Hickenlooper, Congressman Cory Gardner, Greeley Mayor Tom Norton and members of the Northern Colorado business community attended the event.

“In any industry there are good companies, bad companies and a few great companies. Noble has been on the cutting edge, leading the way in responsible energy development,” said Gov. Hickenlooper. “Colorado, in the next five to seven years, has a legitimate chance to be completely energy sufficient and become a net exporter of energy. There are not too many states that can say that.”

“Noble Energy has a long and proud involvement in the DJ Basin. Today is bigger than Greeley, bigger than Weld County and bigger than Colorado,” said Cory Gardner. “This is about a commitment to quality energy. We can produce this energy in our own backyards and that sends a message that this work can proudly be done by local people in America.”

For Greeley and the surrounding areas, the opening of this new office demonstrates the critical role that the DJ Basin continues to play in domestic energy development. 

Noble Energy is a great partner in the community and we very much appreciate their long-term approach to oil and gas development,” Mayor Norton said. “We believe this is a long-term investment and we appreciate what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.”

COGA on Monday released the results of the phone survey. According to the survey by Magellan Strategies of Lousiville, 46 percent of respondents supported local regulation of oil and gas, while 42 percent opposed it, a gap just outside the 3.83 percent margin of error.

When sorted by party, 62 percent of Democratic responders said they supported having local rules, while 59 percent of Republicans opposed the regulations. Independent voters split at 42 percent each way, the survey said, with 16 percent unsure.

“In essence, the City of Longmont is evenly split over the issue of enacting new, local oil and gas production regulations,” David Flaherty of Magellan Strategies said in a memo.

The study’s release came one day before the final Longmont City Council vote on adopting the new rules. The regulations passed a first reading, 5-2, on May 8.

The rules ban surface drilling in residential zones and set up two sets of standards for oil and gas companies: a minimum standard that mostly reflects the state’s rules, and a “recommended” standard under which a company can agree to tougher requirements in exchange for a faster permit process.

COGA and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission — the state regulatory body — both have said the rules go too far. READ MORE …

The program would be similar to Boulder’s SmartRegs program, which introduced energy-efficiency requirements for rental housing. Under SmartRegs, area landlords have until 2018 to bring their buildings up to more stringent energy-efficiency standards. They can apply for a variety of incentives to help cover their costs, and they can choose among various measures, from replacing old furnaces to installing new light bulbs, according to what’s appropriate for their buildings.

So far, measures aimed at the commercial sector have been voluntary. The “10 for Change” program challenges business owners to cut their energy use by 10 percent, and the commercial EnergySmart program provides energy advisors who help businesses identify possible energy savings and apply for available rebates and tax credits.

Read the full story HERE.

The 28-page request for high court attention argues that “roadless” as defined in the federal government’s rule is de facto wilderness and that only Congress has the power to create wilderness.

Wyoming also is challenging the rule — trying to reverse a federal appeals court decision last fall in Denver. MORE …

By Kelly Vaughn, Rocky Mountain Institute

In Colorado, installed solar photovoltaic capacity grew 165 percent from 2009-2010, and we’re seeing an increasing number of lease and power-purchase agreement providers as new business models converge on the state. Major cities throughout Colorado are setting ambitious renewable energy goals (in addition to the state renewable portfolio standard calling for 30 percent renewables by 2020) supported by utilities in an effort to create jobs, attract high-tech companies, and support community-level energy independence.

Rooftop solar is an important part of our future electricity system because of its ability to enhance energy security, protect against volatile fuel prices and retail electricity rate increases, and mitigate environmental issues. But, for rooftop solar to play its role—both on the national and local level—costs must come down.

While Colorado cities have little control over module costs, local governments, utilities, building departments and citizens do play a central role in tackling the “soft costs” of solar. Such non-hardware balance of system (BoS) costs can account for up to 40 percent of installed PV system costs.

Now, the cities of Fort Collins, Golden, and Denver, plus Boulder County, are tackling this challenge head-on with the help of RMI and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA). Through Solar Friendly Communities, a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under the Rooftop Solar Challenge, these partners aim to lower costs by streamlining processes, improving procedural efficiency, and creating educational resources to drive down BoS costs and help drive rooftop solar adoption.

The four initial communities serve on a “steering committee” with RMI and COSEIA to meet the goals of the Solar Friendly Communities program. Among other efforts, they are working to develop a roadmap of best practices that may become the basis of a recognition program akin to the bicycle friendly communities designation system.

“With solar’s potential in Colorado, we hypothesize that local governments like our pilot cities will need processes in place to handle 10 to 100 times more installations per month than current rates,” said Jesse Morris, RMI analyst and member of the Solar Friendly Communities team. “Moreover, these processes must be efficient, safe, and dynamic.”

May 15-16 kicked off a series of workshops in Fort Collins and Golden where RMI and COSEIA laid the groundwork to analyze current  operations that take solar installations from permit, to inspection, to completion. Discussion centered on how well the communities’ existing procedures and departments can scale up and down with changes in demand. These initial workshops revealed a number of common city-level challenges.

Read the rest of Kelly’s report HERE.

Jim Michael, the managing member for Colorado Highlands Wind, said, “We are confident RMT is the right team with the best skills and capabilities to successfully complete this important project.  We look forward to our project beginning operations by the end of the year.”

RMT will provide EPC of the civil and electrical infrastructure to support the installation of 42 GE 1.6-MW wind turbines at the site. The civil infrastructure includes roads, crane paths and pads, and turbine foundations. The electrical infrastructure includes a 34.5/115-kV power substation; a 6.2-mile, 115-kV project transmission line; and interconnection switchyard to the Western Area Power Administration’s system. RMT is also responsible for tower erection, in-tower wiring, mechanical turbine completion, operations and maintenance building construction, and testing and inspections to deliver a fully functional wind-powered electrical generation facility.

“Colorado Highlands is the first wind farm RMT will build in Colorado,” said RMT Director of Business Development Mark Osten. “This development will provide an important addition of renewable energy to the area’s resources. We are proud that Alliance Power selected RMT to serve as the project’s general contractor and look forward to its successful completion.”

The Colorado Highlands Wind project’s construction phase began last month, with completion expected by the end of the year. 

According to the developer, it will generate enough clean energy to power approximately 19,000 homes. The full output of the Colorado Highlands Wind project will be delivered under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a not-for-profit wholesale power provider to 44 rural electric cooperatives in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming.

With a 77-percent surge in oil production in the Rockies by 2016 predicted, the oil rich reserves of the Niobrara Shale have led operators to brand this promising play the ‘NeoBakken’.

Despite this growth in activity, mixed results experienced by Operators have left unresolved questions on how to untap the
liquids-rich potential of the Niobrara and make it a truly economic resource play.

The Tight Oil Niobrara Congress & Gala Dinner 2012 is the first dedicated forum combining geological & completions disciplines to address how operators can unlock the play’s potential within an economically viable framework.

CLICK HERE for agenda and registration information.

With average production continuing to grow in the Niobrara and an ever increasing number of drilling rigs developing new horizontal wells, it is expected oil production in the region will soar 200 percent over the next five years, to nearly 350,000 barrels a day. The key question is how operators translate geological understanding into completions success to ensure long-term economic production?

At the first dedicated Tight Oil Niobrara Congress & Gala Dinner 2012 , both strategic and technical insights will be shared from a range of E&P Operators, Regulators and Regional Experts as they highlight their experiences across geology and completions to improve attendees’ understanding of the drivers of production and decipher the most commercially viable completions strategies.

Hear from the following E&P Operators, Regulators & Regional Experts:
♦  Jim Raney, VP Engineering Technology, Anadarko
♦ Edward Holloway, CEO, Synergy Resources
♦ Fred Julander, President, Julander Energy Company
♦ Paul Gagnon, Senior Vice President - North America, Central Resources
♦ Frank C. Ingriselli, CEO, Pacific Energy Development
♦ Mick Domenick, Senior Geologist, Recovery Energy
♦ Scott Larson, District Geologist Rocky Mountains, Samson Resources
♦ Cindy Allen, Team Lead, EH&S South Rockies Business Unit, Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc
♦ John Humphrey, Department Head of Geology & Geological Engineering, Colorado School Of Mines
♦ Tom Parko, Planning Manager, Weld County
♦ Mark McMillan, Supervisor Oil & Gas Team, Air Pollution Control Division, Colorado Department Of Public Health & Environment
♦ Steve Gunderson, Director, Water Quality Control Division, Colorado Department Of Public Health & Environment
♦ Mark Watson, Petroleum Engineer, Wyoming Oil & Gas Commission
♦ Eric Erslev, Professor Of Geology & Geophysics, University Of Wyoming
♦ Doug Flanders, Director Of Policy & Public Affairs, COGA

If you’re already doing business in this play or about to, the Tight Oil Niobrara Congress & Gala Dinner 2012 will provide a timely forum for a collaborative interchange on the latest geological research, completions strategies and pending issues around water management strategies.

CONTACT DETAILS:

www.american-business-conferences.com
Contact: Holly Burrows, Senior Marketing Manager
Email:  info@american-business-conferences.com
Tel:  (1) 800 721 3915

Background:  
www.american-business-conferences.com/4/conferences/17/conferences/

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.

Niobrara Report launches later this month with our premiere edition that will be delivered to subscriber inboxes. If you haven’t already ordered your complimentary subscription, click the link in the top banner above to receive every bimonthly edition for free. In the meantime, here are some excerpts from the issue:

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.