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PA’s UGI Corp. Deal to Buy WV’s Mountaineer Gas Company

UGI Corporation, one of Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas utility companies, is buying Mountaineer Gas Company, one of West Virginia’s largest natural gas utility companies, for $540 million. UGI serves 700,000 customers across PA (and one county in Maryland). Mountaineer serves 215,000 customers across WV. Both companies are big buyers of Marcellus/Utica shale gas.
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UGI Energy Launches LNG Peak Shaver in Bethlehem, PA

Yesterday UGI Energy Services, a subsidiary of Pennsylvania utility company UGI Corporation, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its brand new Bethlehem, PA LNG peak shaver facility. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairwoman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille was among the dignitaries on hand to celebrate. What is a “peak shaver” and why is this an important project for the PA Marcellus?
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Fed Court Nixes Landowner Compensation Claims re UGI PA Pipeline

UGI Corp. has just won a case on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that overturns an order by a lower court ordering UGI to pay more than $380,000 combined to two sets of property owners for taking their land as part of the Sunbury Pipeline in Snyder County, PA. The landowners who sued used a so-called expert whose testimony was, according to the judges, “speculation and conjecture” and “not good science.” Therefore the lower court award was overturned.

2/14/20 Update: We spotted a second article that does a good job of reviewing this case and the rebuke the Third Circuit handed a lower court judge. Click to read it below.
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UGI Completes 4th Expansion of NEPA Marcellus Gathering System

UGI Energy Services, the pipeline subsidiary of UGI Corporation (utility company) has just completed the fourth expansion of their northeastern PA pipeline gathering system called the Auburn Gathering System. In May 2018 MDN told you about UGI’s plans to add another two compressor stations and more gathering pipelines to benefit Cabot Oil & Gas (see UGI Expanding NEPA Gathering System to Flow More Cabot Gas).
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UGI Completes Buyout of Columbia Midstream Gathering Systems

A month ago MDN told you that UGI, a big utility and midstream company headquartered in Pennsylvania, had cut a deal to buy certain pipeline assets in the Marcellus/Utica from Columbia Midstream (see TC Energy Sells Columbia Midstream M-U Assets to UGI for $1.28B). The deal is now done.
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TC Energy Sells Columbia Midstream M-U Assets to UGI for $1.28B

Exactly three years ago, TransCanada Corporation (now renamed TC Energy) completed a deal to buy out and merge in Columbia Pipeline Group for $10 billion (see TransCanada and Columbia Pipeline Tie the Knot Today). Columbia (now TC Energy) owns significant assets in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday TC Energy announced it is selling some of those M-U assets to PA-based utility UGI for $1.275 billion.
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M-U Companies Collaborate with Eco Group on Pipeline Report

Over the years the Nature Conservancy, whose mission is “to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends,” has put its support behind restrictive, anti-drilling measures. However, they’re not typically one of the Big Green groups that actively goes out of its way to block all fossil fuel extraction. They’re not as bad as the Sierra Club, or NRDC, or Earthworks. In what is perhaps a new chapter in cooperation with the industry (sure to get them tossed off the Christmas card list by other Big Green groups), the Nature Conservancy worked with eight of the largest pipeline companies in the U.S. (all but one with operations in the Marcellus/Utica) to produce a report titled, “Improving Steep-Slope Pipeline Construction to Reduce Impacts to Natural Resources” (full copy below). The report’s aim is to provide a list of best practice aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of natural gas pipeline construction. Particularly in areas prone to landslides. Working with Nature Conservancy on the report was Dominion Energy, Enbridge, EQT Midstream Partners, Kinder Morgan, NiSource, Southern Company Gas, UGI Energy Services and Williams–all of which have committed to adopting the guidelines put forth in the report. Notice that Nature Conservancy’s approach is not “never build another pipeline again”–as it is for most Big Green groups (including the ones we listed above). Instead, Nature Conservancy worked with pipeline companies to develop standards and practices that will protect the environment, while still allowing for pipeline construction. That is, they are being reasonable. Hats off to the Nature Conservancy for their efforts and reasonableness. Unfortunately for them, they are now sure to be ostracized by their Big Green brethren…
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UGI Expanding NEPA Gathering System to Flow More Cabot Gas

UGI, a large utility (and pipeline) company located in Pennsylvania, has announced they will expand a northeastern PA pipeline gathering system. UGI built what they call the Auburn Gathering System between 2011 and 2015–46 miles of pipe, two compressors stations and various other pipeline related facilities located in Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Luzerne counties (near Scranton). UGI spent $215 million to build the system, a system that currently flows 470 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas. Much (most?) of that the gas comes from Cabot Oil and Gas in Susquehanna County. The new news is that UGI will build two new compressor stations, adding to the existing two, which will increase flows through the system by another 150 MMcf/d–all of the increase coming from Cabot. Here’s the good news that more Cabot gas will soon flow through the Auburn System, connecting with two of the biggest pipeline systems in the country–the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (Kinder Morgan) and the Transco Pipeline (Williams)…
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Progress for UGI Energy’s LNG Peak Shaver in Bethlehem, PA

UGI LNG’s Temple I installation near Reading, Pa. with 3-million-gallon storage tank.

In February MDN reported that UGI is proposing a new LNG peak shaver for Bethlehem, PA. The project hit some early opposition, so UGI tweaked the design, keeping it alive (see UGI Energy Tweaks LNG Peak Shaver for Bethlehem, PA). An LNG peak shaver is a unit used for storing surplus natural gas, to have extra natgas on hand and ready during times of peak consumption during really hot summers or really cold winters. Sometimes your local gas utility will build and use a peak shaver (small LNG storage facility), so they don’t run out of natgas at a critical time, and to help with keeping prices lower by drawing down from storage if prices spike. Low prices make for happy customers. We’re interested in such facilities because of their potential as a new demand source for our plentiful gas supplies. UGI’s Bethlehem project includes building an 80-foot high LNG tank. Last week the Bethlehem Planning Board voted 3-0 to approve the tank, meaning more progress for the project…
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UGI Energy Tweaks LNG Peak Shaver for Bethlehem, PA

UGI LNG’s Temple I peak shaver near Reading, Pa. with 3-million-gallon storage tank

It’s time to learn something new (there’s always something new to learn in this industry). Ever hear of a peak shaver? No, nothing to do with that thing guys use in the morning to shave off the stubble. An LNG peak shaver is a unit used for storing surplus natural gas, to have extra natgas on hand and ready during times of peak consumption during really hot summers or really cold winters. Sometimes your local gas utility will build and use a peak shaver (small LNG storage facility), so they don’t run out of natgas at a critical time, and to help with keeping prices lower by drawing down from storage if prices spike. Low prices make for happy customers. UGI, a diversified energy company with both midstream (pipeline) operations and one of PA’s largest utility companies, uses peak shavers. We’ve written about their use of peak shavers in the past (see UGI Building LNG Plant in NEPA, Local Marcellus Gas to Feed It). We’re interested in such facilities because of their potential as a new demand source for our plentiful gas supplies. UGI is proposing a new peak shaver for Bethlehem, PA. The project hit some early opposition, so UGI has tweaked the design, meaning they can proceed…
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UGI Pipeline to Feed Scranton NatGas-Fired Power Plant “On Track”

Invenergy is currently building a state-of-the-art, combined cycle 1,480 megawatt Marcellus-fired electric generating plant in Jessup, PA, just outside Scranton. Construction on the plant–called the Lackawanna Energy Center–has been under way for well over a year now. Some 1,200 people are currently working at the site. MDN previously reported that Cabot Oil & Gas with their prolific Susquehanna County production will feed the plant (see Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant). We also reported that two different companies are building pipelines to supply Cabot’s gas to the plant–UGI and Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (see UGI to Feed Jessup, PA Electric Plant with Marcellus Shale Gas and NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment). We have a pipeline update. Work on UGI’s pipeline began in May and is close to being done…
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UGI Buys NatGas Pipeline Gathering System in NE PA

UGI is a major utility company in Pennsylvania, providing natural gas and electric service to 700,000 Pennsylvania residents across the state. UGI, via its Energy Services subsidiary, operates natural gas storage facilities, compressor stations, LNG plants and local pipeline gathering systems. UGI operates several gathering systems in northeastern PA. Yesterday the company announced is has purchased an existing gathering system from Rockdale Marcellus for an undisclosed sum. The Rockdale gathering system consists of 60 miles of gathering lines–along with dehydration and compression facilities–located in Tioga, Lycoming and Bradford counties in northeast PA. The system was purchased, on paper, by UGI subsidiary Texas Creek, so the gathering system has been rebranded UGI Texas Creek. MDN has a map of the new system below…
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UGI Adds Marcellus Gas Service to Town Between Scranton, W-B

It is a story we see happening more and more frequently–local distribution companies (LDCs, your local gas & electric company) are adding new customers in places previously not served by natural gas lines–because of the presence of the abundant, cheap, and clean-burning Marcellus Shale. The latest such story we noticed of this type comes from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. If you ever whiz through Scranton, and then Wilkes-Barre, motoring down Interstate 81 (as we’ve done hundreds of times over the years), one of the townships you pass through without knowing it is Dupont (in Luzerne County)–quite close to the regional airport in Avoca, not far from Montage Mountain ski resort, and a whisker away from Moosic. Utility giant UGI has begun a program to install natural gas pipelines to 123 homes in Dupont, to provide Marcellus Shale gas to those homes…
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UGI Marcellus-fed LNG Plant in NEPA Now Online

In May 2015, MDN brought you news that UGI Energy Services, a subsidiary of northeast PA utility giant UGI Corporation, announced they will spend $60 million to build a new LNG production plant in Wyoming County, PA (see UGI Building LNG Plant in NEPA, Local Marcellus Gas to Feed It). The facility will liquefy locally produced Marcellus Shale gas–with a capacity of up to 120,000 gallons of LNG per day. There will also be a storage facility on site. UGI said the market for LNG is rapidly growing. Not only do trucking fleets, like UPS, use it, but drillers use it to power rigs and industrial plants use it in locations where there are no natural gas pipelines. Some good news to report: The plant is built and now in operation…
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Marcellus Gas Now Powers Mohegan Sun Casino in the Poconos

Mohegan Sun Pocono CEO & President, Anthony Carlucci, UGI Energy Services President, Joe Hartz, Director of Capital Expenditure for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, Jeff Seidel, and UGI Business Development Manager, Steve Johnson, all spoke at and celebrated this milestone. In attendance also, was Cassandra Coleman with the Pennsylvania Governor’s office and Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Carroll, Ron Ralston.
Click for larger version

The Mohegan Sun Pocono casino, located near Wilkes-Barre, PA, is now powered by Marcellus Shale gas. On June 20 casino officials along with utility giant UGI and local/state politicians gathered to unveil an all-new co-generation energy plant at the casino. The plant uses Marcellus Shale gas to create electricity. The resulting heat is also trapped and used, to heat water, etc. (the “co” in co-generation). The plant cost $3 million to build. Roughly $1 million from a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority. The new plant reduces the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino’s so-called carbon footprint by 3,900 metric tons annually–it’s like taking 820 cars off the road. Here’s the story of how a fossil fuel–Marcellus Shale gas–is helping to clean up the environment, and make it cheaper to run the slot machines, at the same time…
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