Electrical Generation

Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

S&P Overview of Northeast Power Market – NatGas & Electric Gen
July 26, 2016July 26, 2016

Two weeks ago MDN invited you to join us for the upcoming Analyst Training in the Power and Gas Sectors, on August 8-9 in New York City (see Join MDN in NYC for SNL’s Analyst Training in the Power and Gas Sectors). Editor Jim Willis will attend the training. There are a number of MDN subscribers based in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington who should attend this event. Today we have a small preview to share. German banking giant Deutsche Bank recently hosted a conference call with Steve Piper, Director of Energy Research at S&P Global. Steve is one of the seminar leaders/speakers for the upcoming Analyst Training in NYC. He had some great insights and this general overview of the Northeast power market…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

Quick Primer on U.S. Electric Grid & How it Works
July 21, 2016July 21, 2016

As we’ve been saying for well more than a year now, it’s important to understand the electric generation market because natural gas and electric generation are joined at the hip. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says that natural gas will power more electric generation in this country than another other source, including coal, THIS YEAR (see EIA Says NatGas-Fired PowerGen to Reach New Record High in 2016). The bright minds at EIA have just issued what we would call a tutorial on how the electric grid works in the U.S. It’s carved up into regions (called interconnections) and smaller networks exist within those regions to ensure reliability and backup. Here’s a quick and excellent look at how electric generation works in the U.S….
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Says NatGas-Fired PowerGen to Reach New Record High in 2016
July 15, 2016July 15, 2016

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), our favorite government organization, is out with a prediction that natural gas-fired electric generation will hit a new record high in 2016 over 2015–delivering an average of 3.8 million megawatts of electricity each and every day. That’s up 4% in 2016 over 2015–if the numbers hold. Natgas had played second fiddle to coal generated power plants, but that all changed in April 2015 when natgas, for the first time, surpassed coal generation. Here’s the latest exciting news from the EIA that natgas is ascending…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

PA’s Biggest NatGas Power Plant to Buy Gas Based on Electric Price
July 14, 2016July 14, 2016

Earlier this month MDN brought you the exciting news that Cabot Oil & Gas, which only drills in the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA, will provide the low-cost natural gas that will power Pennsylvania’s largest natgas-fired electric generating plant, to be built in neighboring Lackawanna County by Invenergy (see Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant). No specifics were mentioned in the announcement for how much money the natgas plant will pay Cabot for the gas. Perhaps we now know why. What Invenergy will pay will be (mostly) based on the price it receives for the electricity it produces…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Meetings

Join MDN in NYC for SNL’s Analyst Training in the Power and Gas Sectors
July 12, 2016July 20, 2016

The electric power and natural gas sectors are increasingly joined at the hip, as we observed in January (see Natural Gas and Electricity in U.S. Joined at the Hip). According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas has eked out coal to be the number one source of fuel powering electric generating plants in the U.S. MDN currently has 208 stories related to natural gas and electric generation (see them here). Billions of dollars are being spent just in the Marcellus/Utica on new natgas-fired electric plants (OH example: List of 7 Announced NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Planned in Ohio). Yes, natgas and powergen together is a big, hairy deal. So when MDN editor Jim Willis spotted a training seminar dedicated to the topic of natgas and powergen, SNL’s “Analyst Training in the Power and Gas Sectors,” a 2-day training event in New York City on August 8-9, 2016, he just had to go. And so he is! Jim is inviting MDN readers (analysts, investors, traders, others) who work for investment firms, banks, consultancies, engineering firms and other related companies to attend too. MDN has a number of subscribers who are based in New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington who should attend this event. Be forewarned: it’s not cheap. But Jim considers it to be the best possible training you can get on the topic of natgas and power generation. Here’s the details…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

Obama Clean Power Plan Tries to Pick Energy Winners & Losers
July 7, 2016July 7, 2016

We’ve written plenty about President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP), introduced last summer, a plan to force electric generators to convert to using more “renewable” sources of energy–and less fossil fuels (see Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan). The CPP outright assassinates coal powered generation, and wounds (but doesn’t kill) natural gas. It is Obama’s attempt at picking winners and losers in who and how we get our energy. We all saw how that worked out with Solyndra. Earlier this year 29 states and state agencies, including Ohio and West Virgina, filed an application with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay of the CPP (see 29 States Ask Supreme Court to Stop Obama Clean Power Plan ASAP). In a shock decision, the Supreme Court did just that (see Supreme Court Shocker – Justices Halt Obama’s Clean Power Plan). While we wait for the case to work its way through the Court of Appeals, and then (likely) on to the Supreme Court, states and companies are in limbo. Some are pushing forward with an attempt to comply with the onerous rules and regulations that are part of the CPP. Our favorite U.S. Senator, Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, is telling states and companies they should NOT comply, according to the Supreme Court’s decision. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has played “what if?” with CPP compliance. How will the electric power generation mix look if the CPP is adopted as proposed, if it’s not adopted, or if it’s adopted in a revised form. Which sources of energy production win, and which ones lose, under such scenarios?…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Public Opinion

73% of Mass. Residents Support Using NatGas to Generate Electric
July 7, 2016July 7, 2016

A poll recently conducted for Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) shows that Massachusetts voters believe that energy issues are important, and that Massachusetts voters STRONGLY support the use of natural gas for electricity generation, AND the expansion of existing natural gas infrastructure. Some 73% of Mass. voters want to use natural gas to generate electricity. That is an astonishing majority in a very liberal state. Some 68% of those voters say energy issues will affect how they vote in November. Here’s the results…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Electrical Generation | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant
July 6, 2016July 6, 2016

The pieces of a very complicated puzzle continue to fall into place to build what will be Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating power plant in Lackawanna County, PA–near Scranton. Invenergy plans to build the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,480 megawatt plant in Jessup, PA that will cost “well over $1 billion” according to an exclusive MDN source working on the project (not $500 million as we previously estimated). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the plant last December (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). The locals in Jessup approved the project in March of this year (see Jessup Borough Final Approval for PA’s Largest NatGas Power Plant). The plant will use up to 240,000 dekatherms (or 240 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day. We’ve reported on two different companies that building pipelines to the plant to supply it–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). One of the final pieces is, who will provide the natural gas that flows through those pipelines and powers the plant? We now have the answer. Cabot Oil & Gas yesterday announced a 10-year deal to provide Marcellus Shale gas from Susquehanna County to power the plant…
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Dominion Energy | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Statewide VA | Virginia

Dominion Begins Building Virginia’s Biggest NatGas Power Station
June 23, 2016June 22, 2016

Artist’s rendering of Greensville County Power Station – click for larger version

In March 2015, Dominion–a huge natural gas and electric utility as well as a midstream company–announced plans to build the State of Virginia’s largest natural gas powered electric generating plant, in Greensville County, VA (see Virginia’s Largest Electric Plant to be Powered by Marcellus Gas). The $1.3 billion state-of-the-art natural gas-fired electric generating station will generate 1,600 megawatts of electricity. Dominion’s own 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (when built) will provide cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus/Utica Shale gas to power it. In July 2015 Dominion filed a request with the Virginia State Corporate Commission (SCC) to build it (see Dominion to Build Electric Plant in S VA Powered by Marcellus Gas). The SCC approved the project in March of this year (see Virginia Approves State’s Largest NatGas-Powered Electric Plant). On Tuesday Dominion announced they’ve begun construction…
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Bradford County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Panda Power Funds | Pennsylvania

Panda Power’s 2 PA Marcellus-Fired Electric Plants Complete!
June 22, 2016June 21, 2016

In August 2013, Moxie Energy of Vienna, VA sold the permits/rights to build a new Marcellus gas-powered electric generating plant in Bradford County, PA to Panda Power Funds of Dallas, TX (see Moxie Liberty Sells PA Electric Plant Project to Panda Power). The project was renamed from Moxie Liberty to Panda Liberty. A few months later, in December 2013, Moxie sold a second Marcellus-gas fired electric plant project to Panda, this one slated to be built in Lycoming County, PA (see Panda Power Buys Rights for 2nd Marcellus-Fueled Electric Plant). That project was renamed from Moxie Patriot to Panda Patriot. Panda contracted with Gemma Power Systems (Connecticut) to build both 829-megawatt plants. We have some terrific news to share: Gemma reports completing both facilities and has turned them over to Panda to begin operation!…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Susquehanna County | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment
June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

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 Kinder Morgan 4Q15: Cutting Dividend, PA Pipeline Progress). The pipeline project is called the Triad Expansion Project and involves building seven miles of new 36-inch pipeline alongside an existing pipeline in Lenox and Clifford Townships, Susquehanna County, PA. When complete, Triad will deliver 180,000 dekatherms (180 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day to the new Invenergy plant in Jessup, called the Lackawanna Energy Center. Good news for the Triad project and the Invenergy plant: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just granted a favorable Environmental Assessment for the pipeline–all but guaranteeing its approval…
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Allegheny County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Elizabeth Twp Rejects Clean Invenergy Power Plant at Dump Site
June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

Elizabeth Township PA – Credit: Wikipedia

Invenergy is in the process of building a $500 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Jessup (Lackawanna County), PA–near Scranton, PA in the northeastern part of the state (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). When built, and every indication is that it will get built this year, the Jessup plant will be the largest gas-fired plant in the state, generating 1,480 megawatts of electricity by using clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. With that successful project under way, Invenergy turned their attention to the southwestern part of PA and announced their desire/plan to build a second plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). The second plant would be much smaller, at 550 megawatts, and would be built on a brownfield site near Pittsburgh. Even though the site where Invenergy wants to build is a former landfill where fly ash was dumped, making it unusable for just about any other purpose, a group of local residents would prefer to keep it a contaminated dump rather than convert it to a beneficial use like generating electricity (see Invenergy Gets Pushback on Proposed Natgas Power Plant in SWPA). Such is the kooky world of antis. Unfortunately, the local kook antis have now enlisted the support of Elizabeth Township’s zoning board…
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Cambria County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Voice Support for CPV NatGas Power Plant in Cambria County, PA
June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

Cambria County PA – Credit: Wikipedia

Anti fossil fuelers in Pennsylvania have gone so bizarrely off the rails they object to ANYTHING that uses, touches or mentions “natural gas.” They have, quite simply, left their senses. They are irrational. One of the latest examples is their total opposition to allowing new clean-burning natural gas-fired electric plants to be built. We told you in a companion story today that Elizabeth Township (near Pittsburgh) is refusing to site a natgas-fired electric plant on an old landfill site, suitable for no other purpose (see Elizabeth Twp Rejects Clean Invenergy Power Plant at Dump Site). The next battle will be at a hearing for a proposed plant in Cambria County. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) is planning a $900 million natgas-fired power plant to be located off Route 271 near Vinco in Cambria County (see 2 Natgas-Fired Electric Power Plants Coming to Cambria County, PA). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection will hold a hearing in Mineral Point next Tuesday on the proposed CPV project. It’s important for natural gas supporters to turn out and voice your support…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Talen Energy

Talen Energy Converting Moutour, PA Plant to Burn Coal AND NatGas
June 8, 2016June 8, 2016

It was just two days ago MDN told you about a Pennsylvania-based electric power generating company–Talen Energy–getting bought out by an investment company (see Investment Firm Buying Talen Energy – PA Electric Generating Co). We have more Talen news. The company just announced that one of its coal-burning electric generating plants, located in Montour County, PA, will get an upgrade to burn natural gas in addition to burning coal. The Montour Power Plant went online in 1972/73 and generates 1,504 megawatts of electricity. The $70 million upgrade planned by Talen (requiring a 15-mile pipeline) will continue to produce the same amount of electricity, but will give the plant the option to power it with either natgas or coal, depending on which is cheaper. More yummy, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas on the way!…
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Bradford County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | IMG Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

IMG’s Tiny NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Take Off in the Marcellus
June 7, 2016June 7, 2016

MDN first told you about IMG Midstream in August 2014 (see 7 Small Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to NEPA). At the time, IMG was proposing to build seven “tiny” natural gas-fired electric plants–each plant producing on the order of 20-22 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 13,000 homes). IMG added a couple of more to their plans in November 2014 (see Details on IMG’s “Tiny” Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants in NEPA). The beauty of IMG’s tiny natgas electric plants is that they are really small–about the size of a basketball court; they produce almost no air pollution; and they are quiet. It’s a really cool concept. We spotted an update on IMG in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IMG’s very first tiny electric plant, in Susquehanna County, PA, went online last October. The second plant, in Bradford County, PA, went online last week. The former 9 planned plants has now ballooned. IMG plans to have 25 plants operating within the next five years!…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County

Lordstown Energy Center Breaks Ground on $890M Electric Plant
June 7, 2016June 7, 2016

Artist’s rendering of Lordstown Energy Center – click for larger version

You can build them big, or build them small. MDN brought you an update today on IMG Midstream’s very successful “tiny” natgas-fired electric plants, beginning to dot the Marcellus landscape in Pennsylvania (see today’s companion story). However, there are many large natgas-fired electric plants being planned or built as well. An $890 million electric generation plant planned for Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH that will be powered with Utica Shale gas won village approval last summer (see Lordstown $800M Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets Village Approval). The Lordstown Energy Center, as it’s called, then won state approval in the fall (see Lordstown $800M Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets OH State Approval). Yesterday was the official groundbreaking for the Lordstown plant…
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