HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Budget makers in an 11th-hour search for cash to support a deficit-strapped budget are considering reinstating a gross receipts tax on natural gas sales in Pennsylvania, senators said Thursday. The idea is one of several that have been brought up in budget negotiations with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and House and Senate Republican majority leaders have ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Democratic attorney with expertise in energy law has been chosen to fill a vacancy on Ohio’s utility regulatory board. M. Howard Petricoff was named Thursday to a term at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio that ends April 10, 2020. Republican Gov. John Kasich selected Petricoff from among 19 applicants for the vacancy created by ...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin voiced strong concern Thursday about Mongolia’s plans to build a hydroelectric plant on a river flowing into Lake Baikal, warning it could endanger the world’s deepest lake. Putin said that the prospective China-funded dam on the Selenga River would cause “certain risks” to the lake in southern Siberia. “We would like to study ...

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California authorities are responding to a report of crude oil leaking from a pipeline in Ventura County. The Ventura County Star newspaper (http://bit.ly/28RlRIA) reported that county and Ventura city firefighters responded to the scene just after 5:30 a.m. Thursday.   Southern California authorities have revised the estimated size of a crude oil pipeline spill down ...

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A White House report says a sharp hike in royalty rates for companies that mine coal from federal lands across the West would trigger only modest reductions in U.S. coal production. The report comes after the Obama administration halted new sales of federal coal leases while officials determine if longstanding royalty rates shortchange taxpayers. The White ...

COPPELL, Texas (AP) — Retail gasoline prices across Texas have dropped a penny this week to settle at an average $2.13 per gallon. AAA Texas on Thursday reported the national price at the pump also declined, slipping 4 cents this week to reach an average $2.32 per gallon. Amarillo has the cheapest gasoline statewide at an average $2.02 per gallon. ...

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s Public Service Commission has approved a proposed $153 million wind farm and associated electric transmission line in Oliver and Morton counties. The three-member panel on Wednesday unanimously approved the project’s siting application, clearing the way for construction to start. A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources is planning the wind farm of up to 48 turbines ...

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Xcel Energy plans to build a 345-kilovolt power line between Texas and New Mexico to extend its electrical transmission system. The company on Wednesday announced the $400 million project to connect a substation north of Abernathy, Texas, to a similar site in Eddy County, New Mexico. Xcel says it’s begun seeking regulatory approval for the 240-mile ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Heavy-duty trains with thousands of gallons of crude oil in tow will begin rolling through the scenic Columbia River Gorge this week for the first time since a fiery derailment in early June. Union Pacific on Wednesday announced plans to resume operations at some point this week. The June 3 derailment of one of its trains ...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The state of Maryland has released some proposed revisions to regulations for hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. The Maryland Department of the Environment released them Wednesday, after an 18-month review of proposed regulations. The department says the 2015 proposal “laid a solid foundation” for ensuring natural gas production in western Maryland can be done “in a ...