News bites: Utility chiefs weigh in on 'fiscal cliff'

Electric utility executives are pushing for equal tax rates and dividends in a deficit deal, The Washington Post reports.

Liberal-arts schools in the Northeast are leading the charge of colleges divesting endowments from fossil fuel stocks, notes The New York Times.

The International Energy Agency predicts global oil demand growth will continue to be relatively weak next year, Dow Jones reports.

The United Kingdom is allowing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to resume, according to the BBC.

A major natural-gas pipeline blast in West Virginia is turning the spotlight on pipeline safety in shale gas-heavy Pennsylvania, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.