WV Makes Serious Attempt to Attract AI Data Centers Using NatGas
Pennsylvania and Ohio should be looking over their shoulders regarding new data centers and their decisions on where to locate them. West Virginia is making serious efforts to be THE destination for new AI data centers to locate in the Marcellus/Utica region. The West Virginia Office of Energy’s recent summit highlighted the state’s unique position to power the booming AI and data center sectors through its vast natural gas reserves. Like PA and OH, WV’s homegrown natural gas offers a reliable, cost-effective, and flexible solution for necessary baseload power. What’s beginning to set WV apart from its neighbors is legislation that explicitly targets data centers. Read More “WV Makes Serious Attempt to Attract AI Data Centers Using NatGas”
We suppose it’s no surprise that left-wing Congressional Democrats from North Carolina and Virginia are attacking two natural gas pipeline projects that are close to final approval and the start of construction. One project is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both have customers ready to take their gas. Southgate recently received a favorable environmental assessment (EA) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
Oilfield services company (OFS) Mammoth Energy Services, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, operates in the Marcellus/Utica Shale and other major plays like the Permian and SCOOP/STACK. Mammoth announced yesterday that it has completed the sale of its wholly owned engineering subsidiary, Aquawolf LLC, to Qualus, LLC for $30.0 million. The company says the sale advances its “ongoing transformation and portfolio optimization initiatives.” 
New York’s “cap and invest” Climate Act law effectively rations fossil fuels while taxing them heavily. The system limits fuel sales through caps and requires distributors to buy allowances, passing costs on to consumers. With a mandated 30% emissions reduction by 2030, the Climate Act will cause dangerous shortages of essentials such as fuel oil and natural gas for heating and gasoline for transportation. There is a real danger that households will run out of heating fuel during cold winters. Even Gov. Hochul is now criticizing the law as “infeasible.” Capping the state’s main energy sources is an impractical and ruinous strategy that threatens the state’s standard of living. 
Congressman Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) have introduced a bill that is critical to correcting a long-standing abuse of our justice system. The Curtailing Litigation Excess and Abuse Reform (CLEAR) Act of 2025 will streamline American energy infrastructure projects. The legislation targets “serial litigation” by activist groups, ensuring that once a court rules on a project, opponents cannot repeatedly delay it through additional legal battles. By limiting these indefinite delays while still preserving environmental protections, the bill aims to restore investor certainty, lower energy costs, and support national goals regarding AI competitiveness and grid reliability. The bill balances accelerated construction with legitimate oversight. 
This story has nothing to do with the Marcellus/Utica (apologies in advance), other than the companies involved have operations in or purchase molecules from the M-U region. We decided to launch an occasional “Bizarre Files” to call attention to energy news that is, well, bizarre. How about this: France-based TotalEnergies, along with Netherlands-based TES and several Japanese utility companies, are collaborating to produce what is called electric natural gas (e-NG), also known as e-methane, in Nebraska. The e-NG will be exported to Japan. Here’s where it gets interesting, and bizarre… 
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