Kinder Morgan Gets a 50% Partner for Utopia Ethane Pipeline in OH
In December 2013 Kinder Morgan announced they plan to build a new 12-inch ethane pipeline through Ohio, dubbed “Utopia” for Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access (see UTOPIA is Coming! The UTOPIA Pipeline, that is…). Utopia will run ~215 miles and will only be built in Ohio, before it connects to another pipeline that goes to Canada, therefore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won’t be involved in permitting the pipeline. Utopia has been less controversial than other pipeline projects in Ohio, like NEXUS (see Why is UTOPIA Pipeline Less “Controversial” than NEXUS in Ohio?). The 50,000 barrels per day of ethane flowing through it will go to NOVA Chemical’s Corunna cracker plant in Sarnia–a plant we wrote about just yesterday (see Canadian Cracker Eyes Utica Ethane, Adding $2B Polyethylene Plant). Kinder Morgan has announced they are taking on a joint venture partner in the Utopia project. Riverstone Investment Group will become a 50% owner in the project in return for putting up 50% of the cost–or $250 million out of the $500 million it will take to build it…
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Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP) is proposing to build a small pipeline near Scranton, PA to service what will be the state’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating plant, in Jessup (see 
Last week midstream giant Kinder Morgan announced they didn’t have enough demand lined up for their proposed $3.3 billion Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline and so they will suspend any more work on the project (see 
Anti-fossil fuel nuts in Massachusetts and other northeastern states are euphoric, actually orgasmic, at Kinder Morgan’s announcement yesterday that the company has suspended (not necessarily canceled) any further spending/time/effort on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion from NY through MA, otherwise known as the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. Here’s what Kinder Morgan’s announcement means for natural gas customers, at least in certain parts of Massachusetts: If you build a new house, or a new business, and want to connect it to the natgas system in your community, forget about it. You can’t. There’s not enough gas. And if you’re an existing customer and want to convert your electric stove or electric hot water heater or oil furnace to a natgas alternative–don’t do it. If the local utility finds out, they’ll shut you off completely. Why? Not enough gas. So here’s something you anti fossil fuel freaks can really celebrate–you’ve just screwed yourselves, AND your neighbors too! A 2-for-1 deal…
MDN is strongly in favor of property rights. “You don’t tell me I can’t allow drilling a shale well or a pipeline–and I don’t tell you that you must allow it.” That’s always been our guiding philosophy. It pains us when pipeline companies use eminent domain to force landowners to allow a pipeline to be built. Having said that, it’s a pipeline! It’s underground. Farmers can plant crops over top of it after it’s in the ground. After a few years, you’re hard pressed to even tell where the pipeline is buried! We say if there’s widespread opposition to pipelines in a given community, don’t bother building it there. However, if there’s a handful of holdout landowners (often driven by global warming insanity), eminent domain may be justified. Life is complex. These issues are complex. Again, forcefully using eminent domain against any landowner–even the stupid anti-drilling ones–pains us. We don’t like it. But eminent domain is part of our laws, created to benefit wider society. We spotted an article about some Massachusetts landowners who equate opposing Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline with being patriotic, like the patriots from the original Boston Harbor Tea Party revolt. We had to laugh…