Consumers may be in for more bad news on the dreary march to $4 a gallon gasoline as the largest refinery on the East Coast is expected to close this Summer - eliminating nearly 25 percent of the region's gasoline refining capacity. The closure of the Sunoco refinery is due in large part to high oil prices and decreasing domestic fuel demand, leading to substantial economic losses. Unfortunately, the trend may continue in the region as experts predict two other refineries are expected to close because of unsustainable financial impacts. If so, nearly half of the refining capacity on the East Coast will be gone with some economists predicting a 15 cents per gallon spike in New England because more imported gasoline will be needed to meet demand. 

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) agreed to impose small tariffs on imported Chinese solar panels by a vote of 5-0. The ITC concurred that Chinese panels were receiving export subsidies, but their decision to impose countervailing duties ranging from 2.9 percent to 4.73 percent on various companies were far lower than the penalties sought by a coalition of US firms led by SolarWorld. In their complaint, US manufacturers were originally seeking additional tariff duties between 50 and 250 percent that would be applied retroactively to solar panel import operations. The high-profile case has split the solar industry between the small number of domestic manufacturers and the overwhelmingly larger portion of the industry that performs panel installations.

Natural gas futures prices inched north of $2.30 per 1,000 cubic feet for the first time in several days, but it underscores the pessimism by some utility companies in the economics of building new nuclear, alterative energy, and new coal power plants. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported late last week that coal's share of power generation fell below 40 percent for the first time since 1978 during November and December of 2011. According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, NRG's CEO David Crane observed, "It's killed off new coal and now it's killing off new nuclear."

In the early stages of the Recovery Act, one particular program—the $3.1 billion State Energy Program—had more than its share of controversy. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford made headlines by rejecting stimulus dollars tied to the program, classifying it as fiscally unsustainable.

North Dakota has now officially become the third largest oil producer in the country, due in large part to the increasing use of hydraulic fracturing. The state moved past California, according to data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission, and is now behind Texas and Alaska in overall production numbers. 

On March 8, the New Hampshire House of Representatives overwhelmingly disapproved of participation in a regional a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) by a vote of 243-96. Opponents of creating a LCFS likened the proposal to a "liquid RGGI program," which refers to the cap and trade program created by northeastern and mid-Atlantic states under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.  

Every day, a network of more than 2 million miles of pipelines quietly supplies the United States with critical energy products to heat and cool our homes, drive our cars to work or fly across the country for a family vacation.  Although pipeline accidents are rare, their consequences can be very harmful and sometimes fatal. States are tasked with supplying the overwhelming number of inspectors to keep this huge and expansive network operating safely to protect the public and the environment.

The Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Jeff Bingaman, is expected to soon introduce legislation mandating a Clean Energy Standard. Although details have not been published, it's expected that the legislation was based off a report drafted by the Energy Information Administration and will essentially let all forms of electricity generation that produce less CO₂ than current state-of-the-art coal plants to qualify under the mandate based on a sliding-scale. Most congressional observers doubt there are enough votes in the Senate to pass the initiative, but Bingaman's proposal may provide some of the policy framework for the Administration's push for developing a Clean Energy Standard.