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NC Regulators File Objection to Williams PA Leidy South Pipeline

This story is befuddling–we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it. The North Carolina Utilities Commission has filed a protest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) objecting to Williams’ Leidy South expansion project, a project that is being built 100% in Pennsylvania! Why are NC regulators objecting to work being done in another state 500 hundred miles away?
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Duke Energy Making “Plan B” if Atlantic Coast Pipe Doesn’t Happen

When we spotted a headline about Duke Energy, joint venture partner with Dominion Energy in the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project, investigating “Plan B” for what to do if ACP doesn’t get built, we thought, “Oh oh. This is a sure sign the project is in trouble and the principles are giving up.” But we should have known–it’s Bloomberg! It’s Biased news with a capital B.
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Cincinnati DOPEs are Back to Oppose Critical Pipeline Project

Duke Energy has a plan to build a critically-needed natural gas pipeline near Cincinnati, OH to replace an old pipeline built in the 1950s. A group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension, is trying to defeat the project. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extension. The DOPErs are back, claiming a brand new pipeline through the area will be less safe and more dangerous than the old, worn-out pipeline.
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Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Back on Track

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about Duke Energy’s plan to build a critically-needed natural gas pipeline near Cincinnati, OH, to replace an old pipeline built in the 1950s. We told you in April that Duke had, finally, refiled their application to build the new pipeline along an alternate route, with a few tweaks (see Duke Energy Refiles 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Plan). Without this new 20-inch, 13-mile pipeline, some folks around Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Such arguments fall on deaf ears with anti-fossil fuelers. The new news is that Duke is moving forward with the project. A public hearing is now scheduled for next March, and an “evidentiary” hearing is scheduled for next April.
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Duke Energy Florida Power Plant Goes Online Using M-U Gas

Duke Energy Crystal River Gas-Fired Plant

Duke Energy issued a press release on Friday to announce that its massive 1,640 megawatt natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Crystal River, Florida (Tampa area) is now “fired up” and operating, churning out enough electricity to power 1.8 million homes in the Sunshine State. The new gas-fired plant replaces several 52-year-old coal-fired units. The super cool news is that some of the gas powering the plant comes from the Marcellus/Utica. Really?! How? First the gas goes south from our region by hitching a ride through the mighty Williams Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco)–all the way to Alabama. Then, the Sabal Trail Pipeline, a 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) pipeline, runs more than 500 miles from an interconnect with Transco in west-central Alabama to the Orlando, FL-area.
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Duke Energy Plans 1 Bcf LNG Plant in NC Fed by Marc/Utica Gas

Robeson LNG facility location – click for larger version

Some exciting news from Piedmont Natural Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Duke Energy. The company recently announced it plans to spend $250 million to build a 1 billion cubic feet LNG storage facility in southern North Carolina, in Robeson County. Gas is liquefied and stored as backup for residential customers to use during periods of high demand–mainly wintertime. And guess which pipeline (now under construction) will terminate right there, in Robeson County? That’s right, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a joint venture between Dominion Energy and Duke Energy. The new LNG facility will also be able to use gas from a second pipeline in the county–Williams’ Transco. The Transco pipeline flows Marcellus gas all the way from northeastern PA. Translation: Marcellus/Utica gas will feed the 1 Bcf LNG plant, an important new (big) customer for our our natural gas…
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Atlantic Coast Pipe Radicals Threaten Duke Energy CEO at Her Home

Protesting something like a pipeline is one thing. March around, show your signs, talk to the press, make a horse’s rear-end of yourself. Whatever. But showing up at someone’s home and blocking their driveway and erecting a 20-foot tall tower and refusing to move until arrested? That’s something else. That kind of “protest” is threatening, menacing behavior. Bullying. And it’s all too easy for people who have crossed that line to tip over into outright violence. A group of criminal protesters did just what we described–blocked the driveway and erected a wall in the driveway–of Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good at her home in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday. Duke is partners with Dominion Energy in the $6.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project, a natural gas pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. The criminal protesters showed up at Good’s home to oppose the project. The signs they carried revealed their irrational hatred of fossil fuels, which is what motivated them to protest in the first place. Wackos. Here’s how it went down at Good’s home earlier this week…
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Duke Energy Refiles 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Plan

Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. The project is called the Duke Central Corridor Extension Gas Pipeline. Both of the proposed routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPEs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! With just weeks before a final approval by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), Duke asked the state to push the pause button last August (see Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Put on Hold). At the time, Duke said they had “potential concerns” about building the pipeline on a property close to a Superfund site in Reading, should they build it along the alternate route. Those concerns have now been addressed and the project is unpaused and moving forward once again. Duke recently refiled their application to build the new pipeline along the alternate route, with a few tweaks. The usual suspects are turning up to oppose it all over again…
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Duke Energy SC Gas-Fired Plant Starts Up – Marcellus Connection?

W.S. Lee combined cycle gas-fired plant – click for larger version

We spotted news from Duke Energy that the company has begun operations at a brand new natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Anderson County, South Carolina. The W.S. Lee Station is a 750-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant that began serving customers on April 5. Duke began construction of the $700 million plant in 2015. It sits on the same site as two former coal plants that were shuttered in 2014. A third coal plant at the site was previously converted to burn natgas. Why do we care about a new electric plant launching in SC? Because it’s fed by natural gas, and we believe at least some of (perhaps most of) the gas feeding it comes from the Marcellus/Utica region. According to Duke’s press release, “The unit receives natural gas through a new dedicated pipeline that branches off the transcontinental mainline.” We’re pretty sure they’re referring to the Williams-owned Tranco (Transcontinental) Pipeline that crosses through Anderson County. Transco is the pipeline feeding the new power plant. Transco is bidirectional and increasingly carries Marcellus molecules south–some molecules all the way to the Gulf Coast (see Is Marcellus/Utica Gas Getting Exported from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass?). It stands to reason that it is Marcellus gas feeding, at least in part, this new plant located in Dixie…
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Atlantic Coast Pipe Wants 150 NC Workers, $25/Hr + Free Training

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the $6.5 billion Dominion Energy/Duke Energy pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina has had a few setbacks, but that isn’t stopping construction on the pipeline–in all three states where it runs. On Monday we reported on the latest setback–news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is refusing to extend tree cutting season for the pipeline (see FERC Won’t Extend Atlantic Coast Pipeline Tree Cutting Deadline). According to Dominion, FERC’s decision will not delay the late 2019 start date for the project. In the meantime, there’s work to be done! One of the places where work needs to get done is North Carolina. We spotted a story from NC that says Dominion and Duke are offering to train “more than 150 people” at Nash Community College, and then put them to work building the pipeline, for $19/hour plus $45/day, which we calculate to be a total compensation package of $24.63 per hour. Details below on how to apply for the jobs and get in on the free college training…
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NC Republicans Slam Democrat Gov. for Approving Atlantic Coast Pipe

We’re not quite sure what to make of this story. North Carolina has been, as we’ve long pointed out, nitpicking in an attempt to slow down (or stop) the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) from traversing the state (see NC Plays “Death by a Thousand Questions” with Atlantic Coast Pipe). Dominion Energy and Duke Energy are building the $5-$6.5 billion, 594-mile ACP–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina–reaching almost to the border with South Carolina. NC has a Democrat governor, Roy Cooper, whose administration has been hassling ACP for months. But then, all of a sudden, the NC Dept. of Environmental Quality issued permits approving the pipeline–which happened at the same time Dominion and Duke set up a $58 million fund “to protect the environment” in those counties where the pipeline will run. Sure sounds like a $58 million bribe to us, but hey, what do we know? If it gets the job done, it’s a cost of doing business, right? So now NC Republicans, who would normally be in favor of a project like ACP, are crying foul and launching an investigation into NC Gov. Roy Cooper’s $58 million “slush fund,” threatening to hold up work on ACP…
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Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Proj Unpauses

Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. Both routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPEs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) held two public hearings last April, to grant anti-pipeliners the opportunity to vent (see Hearings Scheduled for Proposed Duke Pipeline in Cincinnati). They didn’t disappoint. The DOPEs turned up in force. With just weeks before a final approval by the OPSB, Duke asked the state to push the pause button last August (see Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Put on Hold). At the time, Duke said they had “potential concerns” about building the pipeline on a property close to a Superfund site in Reading. Apparently those concerns have now been addressed. Duke is about to unpause and refile an application for the pipeline. Let the fireworks begin!…
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Big Green Files Lawsuit Against VA Regulators for Approving Pipe

In December members of Virginia’s Water Control Board voted 4-3 to approve issuing a water permit/certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project (see Atlantic Coast Pipeline Delayed in Virginia by Water Board Vote). ACP is a $5 billion natural gas pipeline project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina being built by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy. The Water Board’s approval was conditional, the condition being that approval “is dependent on a final review of several environmental studies.” Those studies won’t be done until March or April of this year, meaning in all likelihood the project will be delayed. You would think Big Green groups would have rejoiced at the Water Control Board’s decision, effectively delaying the project. But they didn’t. Instead, a coalition of groups filed a lawsuit late last week against the Water Control Board–for doing their jobs. The groups claim the Water Control Board and the Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have not done a good enough job of protecting Virginia’s water resources with respect to the ACP project…
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Atlantic Coast Pipe Gets Ready to Build: Union Help, Eminent Domain

We have a couple of important signs that Dominion and Duke Energy, the main sponsors of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, are getting ready to begin building the pipeline. Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. Years after the project filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), it was finally approved by FERC in October (see FERC Approves Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley Pipeline Projects). In November, the U.S. Forest Service granted its blessing for the pipeline to traverse small portions of two national forests (see USFS Approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline Thru 2 National Forests). Although some of the state water crossing permits are still an issue, it’s a pretty much foregone conclusion WV, VA and NC will not hold up construction of this important project. An announcement from Dominion on Friday to say the company has cut deals with four labor unions for workers, and a story in NC about the pipeline being forced to use eminent domain proceedings with some holdout landowners, combine to paint the picture that this project will soon begin construction…
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Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s Future Plans: Expand in NC & SC

Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. The project will be built by Dominion Energy (lead) and Duke Energy (important partner). Years after the project filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), it was finally approved by FERC in October (see FERC Approves Atlantic Coast, Mountain Valley Pipeline Projects). In November, the U.S. Forest Service granted its blessing for the pipeline to traverse small portions of two national forests (see USFS Approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline Thru 2 National Forests). But the project is not without it’s problems. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People declared the pipeline racist (see NAACP Claims Atlantic Coast Pipeline is Racist, Harms Blacks Most). That’s basically a PR stunt by the NAACP to use as a fundraiser. The more important and troublesome development is in North Carolina, where the state Dept. of Environmental Quality is playing a game of delay with questions (see NC Plays “Death by a Thousand Questions” with Atlantic Coast Pipe). Even with setbacks, the companies building the project appear to be confident it happen. So confident that Duke Energy let leak that once the project is built, it likely won’t end there. Duke says there are “great opportunities” to extend the pipeline into more areas of North Carolina–and even extend it on down into South Carolina…
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