Ohio Approves 2 Utica-Fired Power Plants in Guernsey, Trumbull Counties
Last week the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approved two new Utica-gas powered electric plants, and authorized the expansion of a third plant to a bigger size. The OPSB approved the Guernsey Power Station–a new Utica/Marcellus natural gas-fired electric generating plant proposed for (surprise!) Guernsey County, OH (see New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Proposed for Guernsey County, OH). OPSB also approved the Trumbull Energy Center project, a new plant proposed by Clean Energy Future for (surprise!) Trumbull County (see Details on Newly Announced Trumbull Energy Center Electric Plant). That second one may or may not sound familiar. Clean Energy is already building an electric generating plant in Trumbull County–in Lordstown, called the Lordstown Energy Center (see Lordstown Energy Center Breaks Ground on $890M Electric Plant). Clean Energy proposed building a second plant right next to the first one (see Details on Newly Announced Trumbull Energy Center Electric Plant). We suppose Clean Energy could have called the second plant Lordstown Energy Center II, but instead they elected to call it Trumbull Energy Center. Two plants, side by side, built by the same company–now approved by OPSB. The OPSB also approved a request by Clean Energy to expand the already-under-construction Lordstown plant, from 800 megawatts to 940 megawatts. Here’s the lowdown on what got approved, and where it’s all located…
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Fire it up! On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted Energy Transfer permission to fire up the three units that make up the Carroll County Compressor Station (called Compressor Station 1) that helps compress and flow natural gas through the mighty Rover Pipeline. According to the letter from FERC authorizing the startup of the compressor station, FERC is authorizing “partial” service to commence. Since ET wanted to start the station on Friday, we expect the plant is by now up and running. The effect will be dramatic. According to stats released by NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence), which has an excellent Rover Tracker application on their website (
Antis certainly learn from one another. If an anti-fossil fuel tactic works (in court) in one place, antis in other locations jump on it like white on rice. Ninny nanny antis in the Chenango Valley School District (suburb of Binghamton, NY) got their knickers in a twist when NG Advantage proposed building a “virtual pipeline” project about a mile from one of their schools. A virtual pipe is a compressor station that compresses gas from a pipeline (the Millennium in this case) and loads it onto specially fitted tanker trucks to haul the gas to industrial users. The school paid $40,000+ for an outside-the-area law firm, which sued and in a county-level court (called “Supreme Court” in quirky NY). The Big Money law firm won the case, convincing the judge to proclaim that the local planning board didn’t do a good enough job in considering NG’s application (see 
CONSOL Energy, headquartered in Pittsburgh, began life as a coal company some 150 years ago. For the past half dozen years MDN has reported on CONSOL’s transformation from coal company to natural gas company. That transformation is now nearly complete. In July, CONSOL filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission that lays out a plan to split the company in two, into a coal company and a natural gas exploration and production company (see 
MDN has run two stories about a new Marcellus/Utica drilling company called Pin Oak Energy Partners, one in August (see 
Lewis County, WV is not the first county you think of when it comes to the Marcellus/Utica Shale. While Lewis shares a border with the highly drilled Doddridge County, there have been very few shale wells drilled in Lewis. Perhaps we should say there’s been very few permits to drill shale wells in Lewis–we’re not 100% sure if any wells have actually been drilled. But no matter. Lewis has, in the past, benefited greatly from the shale industry. A number of companies are located in Lewis that serve the shale industry, providing jobs for Lewis residents. And pipelines are scheduled to cut through the county–both the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline. Those two projects alone have the potential to employ hundreds of Lewis County residents. A recent report from the WV Bureau of Business & Economic Research says some 2,000 Lewis County residents (16% of the working population) are employed by natural resources and mining. That number will grow 2% a year for the next five years. In other words, counties like Lewis don’t have to have shale wells drilled to see enormous economic benefits from the shale industry…
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In January 2016, the company, going through tough economic times, was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (see 
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events.
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: PA PUC earns high marks from the feds; 11 well permits issued in OH Utica; Cheniere’s Sabine Pass Train 4 gets green light; Permian associated gas is a party crasher; Sen. Inhofe holds up final 2 FERC nominees; Trump taps ex-lobbyist from EPA #2 job; dismantling Obama’s attempt to kill fossil fuels; the “Amazon effect” in oil; US CO2 emissions down in 2016; Fiat Chrysler CEO says pushing electric cars now will “endanger the planet”; and more!