PUC Distributes $244M of Impact Fees (Up 48%) to PA Communities
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced the distribution of $243,877,400 in natural gas impact fees collected from producers for the 2025 reporting year, a whopping 48% increase over 2024. The reason for the big increase was the higher price that natural gas fetched last year and a significant uptick in the number of new wells drilled. This year’s distribution brings the cumulative total of impact fees collected and distributed since 2012 to more than $3.12 billion! Read More “PUC Distributes $244M of Impact Fees (Up 48%) to PA Communities”
Three months ago (March 2026), MDN reported on a northeastern Pennsylvania landowner from Luzerne County who sold his farm to an AI data center project and overnight became a multimillionaire (see 
In early May, MDN brought you details about a proposed NSCALE data center project in Mason County, WV (see 
Greylock Energy hosted an open house on June 3 at its new Potter County field office in Ulysses, Pennsylvania, giving residents a chance to tour the facility, meet employees, and learn about local operations. President and CEO Kyle Mork said the office signals Greylock’s long-term commitment to Potter County and responsible community partnership. The company highlighted local support efforts, including educational partnerships, scholarships, charitable giving, sponsorships, flood recovery assistance, equipment replacement for Galeton’s water system, and sponsorships of Independence Day events. Greylock also invested nearly $1.5 million with PennDOT to repave and upgrade 3.5 miles of Loucks Mills Road. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Venture Global gets enlarged contract to supply LNG to Greece; Woodside Energy’s Louisiana LNG president abruptly departs; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas future inch higher in rangebound trade; Politico’s climate news site shutters a year after gov’t turned off taxpayer spigot; INTERNATIONAL: Crude extends slide on Iran accord; Woodside says no takeover offer from ExxonMobil; Trump insists Iran deal will hold; Indian LNG carrier safely crosses Hormuz, first since US-Iran ceasefire. 
Last week, the combined Marcellus/Utica Baker Hughes rig count remained at 36 active rigs for the fifth week in a row. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville, maintained its count of 55 active rigs, operating 19 more than the M-U. The national count lost 1 rig last week, bringing the total down to 562 rigs. Baker Hughes said the number of oil rigs rose by 2 to 433 last week, the highest total since June 2025, while gas rigs fell by 3 to 121, the lowest since October 2025. 
New York State, with its bizarre energy policies, has officially bankrupted yet another company. Danskammer Energy, which operates a gas-fired peaker power plant along the Hudson River in Newburgh, NY, had tried for years to upgrade the plant (since 2018), but finally threw in the towel in June 2024 (see 
The name Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) pretty much says it all. PGW is a natural gas utility serving the Philly region. PGW is the country’s oldest and largest municipal-owned gas company, serving 500,000 customers. It’s NOT an electric company; it’s a natural gas company. Yet PGW is now seriously considering two strategies to reduce “carbon emissions” as part of its Low Carbon Pathways project. The first option involves full electrification, shifting from natural gas to electric systems for heating, cooking, and appliances. Again, PGW has ZERO electric infrastructure in place. In Philadelphia, PECO (formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company) is the sole local utility company responsible for delivering electricity. In other words, PGW is considering committing suicide (going out of business) by giving all of its business to PECO. Bring out Old Sparky. 
In early April, the EPA revised certain Biden-era oil and natural gas regulations, specifically aspects of the 2024 Clean Air Act rules (OOOOb/c, known as “Quad O”), to reduce compliance burdens and lower energy costs (see 
As we so often say, we love how creative and innovative the oil and gas industry is! We spotted an article that discusses how AI (artificial intelligence) is transforming oil and gas drilling operations across diverse environments—from Alaska’s harsh North Slope to deepwater operations off Guyana to U.S. shale fields like the Permian Basin and (yes) the Marcellus Shale. AI-driven systems now interpret real-time sensor data from drill strings, adjust drilling parameters automatically, optimize directional drilling, monitor drilling fluid chemistry, and evaluate cement integrity faster than human operators. Results include drilling speeds up to 50% faster and pressure-imbalance detection 10-12 minutes earlier than with conventional methods. 
Democrats are attempting to pull a new con job on the American public. They are, according to the New York Times and Grist, “recalibrating” their climate strategy amid economic concerns, moving away from aggressive anti-fossil-fuel positions that defined the Biden era. Americans now see the exposed face of environmental extremism that seeks to ban fossil energy, and they don’t like it. So, in order to cling to what little power they have left, the Dems are changing their messaging (spinning new lies and half-truths) that downplay their ongoing, irrational hatred of fossil energy. Don’t be fooled. 
Last week was a disappointing week for new permits issued to drill shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. The M-U region received just 8 new drilling permits from June 1 – 7, down from 30 permits issued two weeks ago. The main reason for the disappointing low number is that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reported no new permits issued, which it sometimes does (and then “catches up” in the following week). Last week, Pennsylvania issued 7 permits, and West Virginia issued just 1 new permit. The drillers who received new permits included EQT, Expand Energy, and Vickery Energy. 
In February, President Donald Trump unveiled a record-breaking $33 billion natural gas power plant in Piketon (Pike County), Ohio, to be operated by SB Energy, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank (see