FERC Approves Transco Southeastern Trail Expansion Pipe Project
In April 2018 Williams filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the mighty Transco Pipeline to increase the amount of gas the pipeline can flow to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S by 296,375 dekatherms (296 million cubic feet) per day (see Williams Seeks OK to Expand Transco to Move Marcellus Gas South). The Southeastern Trail expansion project (SET), as it’s called, was given final approval by FERC yesterday.
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The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted up new “technical guidance” on “radioactivity monitoring at solid waste processing and disposal facilities” specifically targeted at the shale industry. Translation: new regulations for how dumps (and drillers) monitor and report on radioactivity levels from incoming loads of drill cuttings. The DEP has posted their proposed new guidance document for public comment, after which they will adopt the new regs.
Did you know that building just two new compressor stations in Pennsylvania will bring the state an extra $100 million in economic activity and support 680 direct, indirect and induced jobs? We sure didn’t! Last week Williams filed a newly published study with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the economic impact of their proposed Leidy South Expansion Project (full study embedded below). The study makes an irrefutable case for building the new compressor stations in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties.
If this doesn’t beat all. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to allow a new pipeline to get built, so National Grid, the gas utility for all of Long Island and part of New York City, had to ban new customer hook-ups. Cuomo blamed National Grid and got the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to issue an edict forcing National Grid to add more than 1,000 new customers (see 
New York State used 1.26 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in 2017 (
In June there was a series of explosions and a massive fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refining Complex, the East Coast’s oldest and largest oil refinery (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Maryland issues draft greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: DTE Energy pays $2.5 billion for M5 Midstream; NATIONAL: All Electric? (video); Republic Services expands natural gas-powered fleet; INTERNATIONAL: Pieridae Energy closes acquisition of Shell’s Alberta assets.