Cove Point LNG to Pay $60M per Year PILOT to Calvert County, MD
Cove Point LNG is an LNG export facility located in Lusby (Calvert County), Maryland. It is one of the most technically advanced and environmentally sensitive LNG facilities in the world. We recall as Dominion Energy was building the facility, environmental wackos uttered shrill warnings of habitat destruction coming for the Chesapeake Bay (where it’s located) should the facility go into production (see Green Groups Ask DC Judge to Stop Construction at Cove Point LNG). Nothing of the kind ever happened. The current owners of Cove Point, Berkshire Hathaway Energy (yes, that Berkshire, owned by Warren Buffett), just signed a deal paying Calvert County $60 million PER YEAR in lieu of property taxes, a “payment in lieu of taxes” or PILOT agreement. The local community and county commissioners could not be more delighted with the money and how Cove Point benefits the community. So much for all of the false claims by the wackos. Read More “Cove Point LNG to Pay $60M per Year PILOT to Calvert County, MD”
The State of Maine has a completely unrealistic climate goal of using 80% renewable energy generation by 2030. It 100% won’t happen. But state officials continue to fart around pretending they will hit that goal. Meanwhile, back in the real world, natural gas remains THE key energy source for the state, generating more than half of New England’s (and Maine’s) power. Three interstate pipelines flow natural gas molecules to the state: Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, Algonquin Gas Transmission, and Granite State Gas Transmission. All three are requesting a rate increase. Two of the three, Maritimes and Algonquin, are owned by Enbridge and have requested a rate increase of 30-50%. Ouch. 
We have often marveled at the innovation in the oil and gas industry that happens each year. When we first began to write about shale drilling in 2009, a long horizontal lateral was perhaps a mile. Today, there are wells that go over four miles underground! In 2009, it might take two months for a rig to drill a new well. Today, it’s done in a few weeks. The rigs operating today are doing the work of three to four times the same number just a few years ago. It’s astonishing. The end result is that shale drilling has gotten “leaner and meaner” and has resulted in lowered costs.
Patience is a rare commodity these days. We live in a day and age of instant gratification. Our food is made and delivered in minutes. The latest gizmo we want can be on our doorstep the next day (or, in some cases, the same day) from Amazon and any number of other retailers. Entertainment and distractions are everywhere! Just lift your eyes from your own phone and observe everyone else around you staring at their phones. So perhaps it is no surprise that some people feel lied to because the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, hasn’t instantly delivered the promised thousands of extra jobs and dozens of relocated companies.
Private companies create jobs and economic stimulus, not “the government,” as the left convinces you. Companies, especially manufacturing companies, locate where there is cheap energy. In Pennsylvania, there is abundant cheap (and CLEAN) energy from Marcellus gas in the northeastern part of the state. And indeed, that is exactly what is happening. Businesses are locating in what locals call the “Inland Triangle” of PA — seven counties with numerous major interstate highways running through them in the heart of the Marcellus.
A new bill proposed by two Republican state lawmakers in Ohio would make it easier to site and build natural gas pipelines to areas of the state where pipelines currently don’t exist. If our reading of the bill language is correct, it is aimed at stimulating new jobs by running pipelines to industrial parks and businesses that currently are not serviced by natgas. The aim is to stimulate new jobs and opportunities in the Buckeye State. Smart.
Exactly a year ago, MDN brought you the good news that a company based in Houston, Texas called Encina (not to be confused with Encino Energy, which drills for natural gas and oil in Ohio) was proposing to build a $1.1 billion plastics recycling plant along the Susquehanna River in Northumberland County, PA — about 60 miles north of Harrisburg (see 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing called “Fueling Pa’s Future: Liquid Natural Gas.” In January, Joe Biden announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve projects (see 
Here’s something you don’t read about every day. An oilfield services company, Heavy Iron Oilfield Services, recently moved from its birthplace (founded in 2011) in Washington (Washington County), PA, across the border to a new location in Chester (Hancock County), WV. Washington County is a hotbed of drilling activity in Southwestern PA. But then again, Hancock County sees a lot of drilling, too. The reason for the move? Easier access to multiple job sites in the tri-state area and a pool of qualified workers to expand the business.
The Washington County (PA) Chamber of Commerce held an event last week with a panel of experts involved with the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) to discuss the long-term impacts of the project on the local economy and job market. ARCH2 was first proposed by (mainly sponsored by) West Virginia. Ohio and Pennsylvania later joined in supporting the ARCH2 proposal, which was selected by the Bidenistas as one of seven regional hydrogen hubs to share in a $7 billion pot o’ gold (see 
The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, based in Houston, TX, is the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector. The Council reports jobs in the O&G sector increased in November, adding 1,286 jobs. The O&G industry employs 652,398 jobs across the country, just 54,130 jobs away from returning to pre-pandemic levels. And how much do those jobs pay? The average hourly earnings for frontline oil-and-gas workers rose 1.3% in October from the previous month to $44.11, according to a Labor Department report released last week.
For more than a decade, MDN has brought you stories about shale development on and under land controlled by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles (
Natural gas development is fundamental to the health and strength of Pennsylvania’s economy, supporting well over 100,000 family-sustaining careers, boosting state tax revenues, and generating billions in economic benefits, according to a new economic impact analysis (full copy below) commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC). The analysis, released at the kickoff of the 
The nutters are out in full force, particularly in Pennsylvania, using fraudulent “studies” by the Ohio River Valley Insititute (ORVI) and (sadly) the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to call for an end to the Marcellus industry in the great Keystone State. A recent “letter to the editor” appearing in the Sunbury (PA) Daily Item is a perfect example. On Sept. 3, the Daily Item ran an op-ed titled “Is fracking good for Pennsylvania,” concluding that it is not. It was written by a member of the Climate Reality Project, a far-left organization that irrationally hates fossil energy. The typical references were made to the fraudulent ORVI and Pitt studies. Ten days later, another op-ed appeared in the Daily Item, written by David Callahan from the Marcellus Shale Coalition, setting the record straight.
Actions have consequences. Environuts, like the lefties in Maine, seem to forget that. In early 2021, Summit Natural Gas of Maine, a regional utility company, announced plans to extend its service territory into Maine’s Midcoast region with a $90 million pipeline project (see