Ashburn, VA Landowners Offered $4.4 Million/Acre for Data Center
Last week, MDN told you about one landowner in Luzerne County, PA, who became an overnight millionaire after selling his small farm to a company planning to build a data center on the land (see NEPA Landowner Sells Small Farm to Data Center for $17.8 Million). While northeastern PA is trying to become a data center corridor, there is already an established data center corridor in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. A new data center is being proposed for Data Center Alley in Loudon County, Virginia, and the developers are offering an eye-popping $4.4 million *per acre* to landowners to sell their land to them. Wow! Read More “Ashburn, VA Landowners Offered $4.4 Million/Acre for Data Center”
Some more high finance stuff to share—but hang tight, there is a point. EQT Corporation announced the pricing and accepted amounts for the buyback of up to $1.4 billion in eight series of outstanding senior notes (IOUs) maturing between 2027 and 2031. The primary motivation for this action is debt reduction and balance sheet management. EQT is getting financially healthier and stronger by getting rid of debt. That’s the point. 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House passed House Bill (HB) 1834 to regulate AI data centers, supposedly aiming to protect the electric grid and shield consumers from rising utility costs. Authored by Representative Robert Matzie (Democrat), the legislation requires data centers to use increasing amounts of clean, in-state energy and contribute to affordability programs like LIHEAP. While Democrats emphasize the need for safeguards against industry expansion, Republicans argue that the bill’s mandates could discourage investment and drive developers to neighboring states. The measure now heads to the state Senate, where it’s dead on arrival (DOA). 
We just happened across another XTO Energy lawsuit in which leased landowners sued over post-production deductions being taken from their royalty checks. Salvatora v. XTO Energy Inc. is a pivotal Pennsylvania case tackling the messy business of natural gas royalties. Western Pennsylvania landowners from Mercer and Butler counties sued XTO, arguing the company unfairly deducted “post-production costs”—like compression and transport—from their checks. The core debate hinged on “at the wellhead” lease language. 
Expand Energy and EQT Corporation are bypassing traditional gas-trading middlemen to capture higher profits by selling natural gas directly to end users. Expand has increased its marketing team and relocated to Houston to secure regional supply deals with utilities and manufacturers, using its production data for a competitive edge. Simultaneously, EQT is pursuing long-term contracts with power plants and LNG exporters to reclaim margins once held by intermediaries. 
This one makes us white-hot with anger. Our “cousins” to the north, who have bashed fossil energy repeatedly and have disrespected the Trump administration on numerous occasions, now want to export more of their natural gas to the U.S. so we can use it in our LNG exports to other countries. NO THANKS. You can keep your gas and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine. We have PLENTY of our own gas, and we could extract even more (from the Marcellus/Utica, other plays, too) if we had available pipelines to flow it. We don’t need or want Canadian gas that would displace existing molecules in our limited pipelines. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Haynesville sitting pretty as LNG export capacity takes off on Gulf Coast; New Jersey legislation targeting energy companies will hurt consumers; Maryland Supreme Court tosses Blue cities’ climate lawsuits against energy companies; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas settles higher as oil futures gain; Mideast situation shows need for energy diversification, says Cheniere CEO; Upwing Energy achieves ISO certification for subsurface compressor system; Energy bosses share Iran anxieties at CERAWeek; A turning point for litigation campaign; BlackRock CEO abandons climate delusion for investor needs; U.S. LNG feedgas maintains peak levels; From transit funds to sports arenas – the raid on clean energy funds; INTERNATIONAL: Oil rises on Strait uncertainty; The oil supply crunch is spreading from the Gulf to the rest of the world; Iran charges some ships Hormuz transit fees; On oil prices, the narrative shifts to ‘higher for longer’.