The California Independent System Operator (ISO) said two Northern California utilities are 
planning to participate in the ISO’s western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM).
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Balancing Authority of Northern California (BANC) have begun negotiating agreements to join the EIM.
Federal regulators, responding to the Aliso Canyon gas leak, have proposed new safety 
procedures for all underground natural gas storage facilities in the nation.
The new procedures, developed by the , will be overseen by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration when enacted.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO) and the Mexican electric system operator, El Centro 
Nacional de Control de Energía (CENACE), announced that CENACE has agreed to explore participation by its Baja California Norte grid in the Energy Imbalance Market.
The real-time market enables participating utilities to shift supplies of electric power from areas of surplus capacity, especially power generated by renewable sources, to areas experiencing high demand.
Phoenix-based Arizona Public Service (APS) and Puget Sound Energy (PSE) of Washington State began full participation in the western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) on October 1.
The EIM is a real-time wholesale power market managed by the California Independent System Operator (ISO) that enables participating utilities to buy low-cost energy available across eight western states.
Uduak-Joe Ntuk
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has appointed Uduak-Joe Ntuk as the city’s first-ever oil administrator to regulate the safety of oil operations in the city.
He will begin serving in the $133,500-per-year post in October, heading a new Office of Petroleum and Natural Gas Administration and Safety within the City’s Board of Public Works.
Ntuk, 37, is a petroleum engineering official for the city of Long Beach, and formerly was an engineer with Chevron Corp.
Natural gas supplies this winter should be adequate for the needs of Southern California 
residents and businesses, despite earlier fears about shortages resulting from the shutdown of operations at the SoCalGas Aliso Canyon storage facility.
That’s the conclusion of a 41-page report prepared jointly by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, the California Independent System Operator, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Southern California Gas Co.
