TC Energy’s Key Projects Impacting the Marcellus/Utica Region
TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) is a major North American energy infrastructure company based in Calgary, Alberta, specializing in natural gas pipelines, power generation, and storage. The company transports over 30% of the daily natural gas consumed in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. The company owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica, including Columbia Gas Transmission and the Millennium Pipeline. The company issued its fourth quarter and full-year update for 2025 last week. Based on the company’s earnings call and associated reports, there is a significant focus on leveraging existing infrastructure to move M-U gas to growing demand centers, particularly in the U.S. Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Read More “TC Energy’s Key Projects Impacting the Marcellus/Utica Region”
Pipeline giant Williams issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update last week. The company forecasts 2026 profits exceeding analysts’ expectations, driven by surging natural gas demand from AI data centers and crypto mining. Williams is aggressively expanding its footprint, with 7.1 Bcf/d of pipeline projects currently underway and new gas-fired power plants such as the $1.3 billion “Socrates the Younger” project. The company plans to invest up to $6.7 billion in 2026 capital spending to capitalize on the sustained, long-term need for gas infrastructure and power growth. 
In June 2023, Dominion Energy announced plans to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County near Richmond (see 
Wow! What a week for rigs last week. On Friday, Baker Hughes reported that the national count remained unchanged at 551 active rigs. However, the Pennsylvania Marcellus picked up another rig and now operates 20 rigs, the most it has operated in well over a year. Both Ohio and West Virginia remained at 13 and 7, respectively. The combined M-U count was 40 rigs last week, the most in well over a year. The M-U’s primary competitor (for attention and money), the Haynesville, added another 2 rigs last week after adding 7 the week before, for a new modern high of 52 rigs (12 more than the M-U, bummer). It’s probably too early to declare a trend, but the upshot is that more gas drilling is underway in the two largest gas plays in the country. That’s a good sign. 
Another new gas-fired power plant is on the way in West Virginia! FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison have selected a 35-acre site in Maidsville (Monongalia County), West Virginia, for a new 1,200-megawatt natural gas power plant. Located adjacent to the existing Fort Martin Power Station, the facility is designed to provide reliable, affordable energy for approximately 500,000 homes. Pending approval from the WV Public Service Commission, construction could begin in 2027 with operations starting in 2031. 
About six years ago, Dominion Energy announced the River Neck to Kingsburg project, a short 15-mile 16-inch natural gas transmission main line that would run in an existing right-of-way alongside another pipeline along Old River Road near Pamplico in Florence County, SC. It was supposed to be built and flowing in 2022. Dominion still hasn’t built a square inch, thanks to the lawfare launched by the anti-fossil fuelers of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. Earlier this month, we told you that the South Carolina Supreme Court finally cleared the last legal roadblocks (see 
Anti-fossil fuelers are raising concerns (and stoking fear with county residents) about a potential Duke Energy natural gas power plant in Davidson County, NC, after the project appeared in the company’s long-range planning documents. We first told you about this project three weeks ago (see 
Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest U.S. energy holding companies, serving 8.7 million electric customers and 1.8 million gas customers across six states as of early 2026. While the company dabbles in unreliable renewables like solar and wind, its bread-and-butter, go-to source for new electric power generation is natural gas, which it gets from the Marcellus/Utica. We’ve reported on many of Duke’s announced new gas-fired power plant projects (
Antis somehow got to the board of commissioners in Montour County, PA. Yesterday, the commissioners voted unanimously to reject Talen Energy’s request to rezone empty agricultural land near Talen’s Montour Power Plant (converted from coal to run on Marcellus gas in 2023) for a proposed data center. This decision followed community concerns stoked by lying groups like Food & Water Watch regarding “potential environmental impacts” on the nearby Montour Preserve. 
We’ve recently begun actively tracking flow restrictions on pipelines that carry Marcellus/Utica molecules. Current pipeline flow data for February 2026 show that the Marcellus/Utica (M-U) region is experiencing significant, albeit weather-driven, volatility. While the basin remains a production powerhouse, a combination of recent Arctic weather and localized maintenance has triggered several flow restrictions, including a restriction along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. 
In January, a coalition of so-called environmental groups lodged an ethics complaint against Ohio Senator Brian Chavez, alleging that he failed to disclose ownership in five natural gas LLCs while leading the Senate Energy Committee (see 
Pipeline giant Williams Companies is exploring a strategic return to natural gas production to create an integrated “one-stop shop” for AI hyperscalers and data center operators. By potentially acquiring upstream assets to complement its 33,000-mile pipeline network and new power-generation projects such as the Socrates facility in Ohio, Williams aims to offer a turnkey energy solution that bypasses traditional grid constraints. This move toward a “bundled” model reverses a decade of industry specialization, positioning the firm to capitalize on the massive power demands of artificial intelligence. Investors are watching for official confirmation during the company’s 2026 analyst day tomorrow. 
Residents in Brookfield, Connecticut, are leading a “bipartisan” campaign to block a $272 million expansion of the Iroquois Gas Transmission System, despite national efforts to boost fossil fuel infrastructure. The project would add two compressors to an existing station, primarily increasing gas flow to New York markets. Local officials and residents, including some Republicans, cite health and safety risks due to the facility’s proximity to homes and Whisconier Middle School. Although the project has tentative state support, opponents argue that environmental impacts and explosion risks outweigh regional energy benefits, particularly since Brookfield receives no direct supply increase from the expansion. 