Texas Eastern Line 31 Expansion Project to Feed MS Power Plant
Another new (to us) pipeline project in the Southeast with the potential to flow Marcellus/Utica molecules. We recently became aware of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Line 31 Expansion Project. The project is designed to expand the capacity of the Texas Eastern (TETCO) interstate natural gas system in Madison County, Mississippi. The current proposal (not yet officially filed with FERC) includes approximately 10.2 to 11.5 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline looping, a 1.7-mile delivery lateral, and the construction of the new Ridgeland Compressor Station. The project is expected to provide between 125,000 and 160,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of additional natural gas transportation capacity, primarily intended to serve Entergy’s proposed Ridgeland Advanced Power Station (gas-fired power station) in Madison County. Read More “Texas Eastern Line 31 Expansion Project to Feed MS Power Plant”
An interesting case in Ohio deals with whether or not natural gas can be taxed, depending on how it’s used. The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruled on Tuesday, January 6, that MGQ Terminal, Inc. is exempt from use tax on natural gas purchases used to process asphalt to customer specifications. Although Tax Commissioner Patricia Harris had assessed use tax for the period between 2013 and 2016 based on the determination that the company was engaged in a storage business, the board reversed this decision, finding that the company’s activities qualify as tax-exempt “manufacturing operations.” The board held that MGQ’s use of natural gas to heat, agitate, and blend refinery waste into homogeneous, specification-compliant products constitutes a transformative manufacturing process rather than mere storage. 
Constellation Energy Corporation has finalized its acquisition of Calpine Corporation from Energy Capital Partners, becoming the largest electricity producer in the United States, with a generating capacity of 55 gigawatts. This merger integrates Constellation’s zero-emission nuclear fleet with Calpine’s natural gas and geothermal assets. Prior to the merger, Calpine owned 79 energy facilities across the country, generating some 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, with a significant number located in the eastern U.S. Many of Calpine’s facilities use natural gas to produce electricity. 
Duke Energy breathlessly announced the launch of the DeBary Hydrogen Production Storage System, claiming to be the first U.S. project to demonstrate an end-to-end process for producing, storing, and combusting 100% green hydrogen. Located in Volusia County, Florida (near Daytona Beach), the facility uses solar energy to power electrolyzers that extract hydrogen from water. This stored hydrogen then fuels a turbine modified to burn hydrogen to meet peak electricity demand. Duke thinks that it can overcome the unreliable nature of solar power by using solar when the sun is shining to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, and storing the explosive hydrogen for later use. Below, we bring you the big claims by Duke Energy—in their own words—and then tell you why we consider their claims lacking. 
In a major disappointment, Republicans caved to Democrats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, releasing a so-called bipartisan spending package on Monday morning that keeps the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget largely intact. The spending package would fund several federal agencies and scientific bodies, including the EPA, the Departments of Interior and Energy, and the National Science Foundation, through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The “minibus” bills, which will likely move to the House floor for a vote this week, allocated more than $38 billion to Interior, Environment, and related agencies, or $9.5 billion more than the Trump administration’s budget request. 
Big Green grifters from the environmental left have struck out in their attempts to shut down fossil energy and replace it with their own preferred energy sources by appealing to legislators and the general public. So they’re doing the only thing they have left: Launch a blizzard of lawsuits against oil and gas companies, hoping to tie them up for decades (using Democrat judges), or possibly even winning a few cases to further fund their nefarious activities. Bloomberg reports that Big Green is increasing its litigation pace in 2026. Time to shut them down in their efforts. 
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