WV DEP Approves Construction Permit for Gas-Fired Elec Plant
Since early 2015 (seven years ago!) we’ve been tracking stories about various proposals to build Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the Mountain State (see Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light). Those projects have been frustrated and held back by Big Coal lawsuits (see Brooke County Blames Coal Lobby for WV Gas Plant Delay). Those litigation issues are now largely resolved, yet no new projects have broken ground in the state–ever. There are no large-scale gas-fired power plants in WV to the best of our knowledge. However, that’s about to change–finally. The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protect (WV DEP) has approved a construction permit for a gas-fired plant in northern Monongalia County.
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In December a jury in Ritchie County, WV awarded the county’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) nearly $1 million in damages in a trespassing case. The case is complicated, but at its heart is the issue of a Marcellus-focused company, Ronald Lane Inc., and land Lane deeded to the local EDA. A lawsuit against Lane alleged the company leased the deeded land for “oil and gas purposes” (to Columbia Gas as a heavy equipment storage facility) and that Lane never told the EDA about the lease nor shared the profits received from that lease.
The Biden-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rubber-stamped a request by regional electric grid operater ISO New England to cancel a contract with the proposed Killingly Energy Center, a 650-megawatt, gas-fired plant slated to be built in eastern Connecticut. FERC effectively killed Killingly. ISO New England said Killingly would not get built in time to fulfill a previous power agreement it had signed. The reason for the delays? Vicious attacks by anti-fossil fuel fanatics, particularly the odious nutters of the Sierra Club. It’s quite a game antis run. They slow down and delay a project with multiple frivolous lawsuits, then get it canceled because it’s slowed down and delayed.
We hope the current and future teachers who get a pension from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System enjoy getting less money in their golden years. Pension payments for teachers are about to go DOWN because the people managing their retirement investments have decided to divest from fossil fuel companies. Translation: The Retirement System portfolio will take a major financial hit (i.e. won’t be as profitable). The Retirement System is about to flush pension money right down the toilet.
Five Chinese researchers recently published a study in Springer’s Environmental Science and Pollution Research International journal that claims to have identified environmental and health threats in unconventional oil and gas by analyzing old compliance reports from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. The study claims to have found problems with erosion and sedimentation issues and with water pollution issues. Their conclusion is that PA fines aren’t high enough to change the bad behavior of shale drillers.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Metcalfe announces legislative retirement; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Youngkin chooses Trump EPA chief for natural resources secretary; NATIONAL: 45Q tax credits evolve to incentivize carbon-capture projects; INTERNATIONAL: EU finally admits natural gas and nuclear are key to decarbonization; European gas prices rise with Russian pipeline stuck in reverse; A Russian invasion of Ukraine would have profound implications for energy markets.