Dec. 21 — The Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oil and gas regulator, collected nearly $8.6 million in fines from the oil, gas and pipeline operators in 2016, according to the commission’s year in review report released Tuesday.
The fines were nearly split between pipeline operators, at $4.5 million, and oil and gas operators, at $4 million. Operators can face heavy fines if they violate state regulations such as not clearly marking equipment or failing to plug inactive wells. But those numbers are a fraction of the agency’s projected revenue for this year, more than $69 million, which it collects mostly from industry fees and accounts for more than 75 percent of its budget.
Is a policy analyst consultant for TCAP, a coalition of political subdivisions in Texas that purchase electricity in the deregulated market for their own governmental use. Because energy costs are typically a significant budget item to our members, TCAP is consistently looking for ways to save our members money, through cost-saving contracts, energy efficiency or demand response programs.