OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House panel to question FERC on ‘energy landscape’

ON TAP THURSDAY: A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel will hold a hearing on “the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a changing energy landscape.”

With the nation’s energy recent surge, FERC’s regulatory authority over electricity, natural gas, oil and the like is increasingly important, an advisory on the Energy and Power subcommittee hearing states.

{mosads}The hearing will “focus on the legal and regulatory authorities of FERC and the manner in which it carries out its statutory duties under the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act, and other authorities,” the advisory states.

Three FERC commissioners and FERC’s acting chairwoman, Cheryl LaFleur, will provide testimony at the hearing.

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) blames an unlikely target for added stress on the electric grid: the Environmental Protection Agency.

The ACCCE claims the agency’s new carbon emissions standards for taking coal plants offline, which leaves renewables and natural gas to power the grid.

“Based on current production, natural gas and renewable sources simply cannot meet the baseload energy demands of our nation,” the ACCCE said in a statement. “Additionally, to transform our nation’s power delivery system to fully utilize these sources will be a massive, time-consuming and expensive undertaking.”

ON TAP THURSDAY II: The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing Thursday on its recent — and controversial — proposal to scale back the amount of ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s motor fuel mix.

The biofuels industry is battling the proposal, which handed a win to oil companies that increasingly are calling the ethanol mandate unworkable.

Rest of Thursday’s agenda…

Be on the lookout for a new report that will dive into the potential economic impact of opening the Atlantic Ocean to offshore oil and natural-gas drilling.

The American Petroleum Institute and National Ocean Industries Association will be releasing the report on Thursday. The study will take a national and state-by-state look.

NEWS BITES: Newly elected Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.) will join the House Natural Resources Committee, Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) announced on Wednesday.

Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Chris Stewart (R-Utah) will be leaving their posts on the Natural Resources Committee to join the House Committee on Appropriations.

Also around the Web….

The Houston Chronicle reports Royal Dutch Shell is trying to win over the Obama administration with a new outline of its Arctic drilling plans for 2014.

The New York Times reports members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to keep their daily quota for production at 30 million barrels.

The move by OPEC will keep crude oil prices at the current and high levels.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out the stories that ran on E2-Wire on Wednesday.

– Democrats push EPA to act fast on greenhouse gas
– Fed offer rural efficiency loans
– House committee passes pay-back bill for shuttered parks
– Boehner defends ‘do nothing’ House
– Rahall targeted as carbon tax supporter
– Dem proposes taxing drivers by the mile

Please send tips and comments to Laura Barron-Lopez, laurab@digital-stage.thehill.com.