Electrical Generation

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

Letter Writing War Erupts Over Jessup, PA Gas-Fired Power Plant
December 9, 2015December 9, 2015

An interesting back and forth in letters to the editor of the Democrat-run Scranton Times-Tribune over the proposed electric generating plant in Jessup, PA. As MDN has previously chronicled, Chicago-based Invenergy hopes to build what will be the largest (to date) electric generating plant in the state of Pennsylvania powered by natural gas (see Public Hearing on NEPA Proposed Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). Invenergy hopes to build the 1300-megawatt plant in the borough of Jessup (Lackawanna County), near Scranton. In very basic and simple terms, local Democrat anti-drillers (who hate fossil fuels of any kind) are against the plant, and local clear-thinking Republicans are in favor of this clean-burning, jobs-producing, economy-stimulating project. Recently a ginned-up “controversy” over the plant took to the editorial pages of the Times-Tribune. Here’s the (so far) back and forth between two antis and one pro…
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Dominion Energy | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Statewide VA | Virginia

Dominion’s Northern VA NatGas Electric Plant an Award Winner
December 9, 2015December 9, 2015

A natural gas-powered electric generating plant in northern Virginia that MDN told you about more than four years ago is now an award winner. In September 2011 MDN told you that Dominion would build a huge new electric plant, powered by Marcellus Shale gas (see Marcellus is “Game Changer” for New Electric Power Plants). The 1,329-megawatt Warren County Power Station entered into commercial operation on December 10th, 2014. The natural gas-fired power station, located just north of Front Royal, VA, can produce enough electricity to power about 325,000 homes at peak demand. The plant is among the cleanest fossil-fuel fired facilities in the nation, using three combustion turbines and a steam turbine. This clean-burning, environmentally-friendly FOSSIL FUEL PLANT was named Gas-Fired Project of the Year for 2015 by the editors at Power Engineering and Renewable Energy World magazines…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | UGI Energy Services

NEPA Electric Plant Converted from Coal to NatGas a Huge Success
December 3, 2015December 3, 2015

As MDN has previously chronicled, Chicago-based Invenergy hopes to build what will be the largest (to date) electric generating plant in the state of Pennsylvania powered by natural gas. Invenergy hopes to build the 1300-megawatt plant in the borough of Jessup (Lackawanna County), near Scranton. But there’s been quite a bit of opposition, most of it from anti-fossil fuelers (see our Jessup power plant stories here). The folks in Jessup might want to cast their eyes on another project not far away, in Luzerne County, where a former coal-fired power plant was recently converted to burn natural gas. That plant, owned and operated by UGI, reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by 99%, and reduced nitrogen oxide emissions by 95%. That is, natgas-fired electric plants are one of the lowest polluting ways to generate electricity–and far more reliable than alternatives like solar and wind…
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Dominion Energy | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pipelines | Research | Statewide VA | Virginia

Dominion Investing $10.1B, Creating 20K New Jobs in VA Next 5 Yrs
November 18, 2015November 18, 2015

It’s a shame to have to prove to people what should be self-evident–that building new natural gas electric plants and natural gas pipelines will bring both new jobs and inject billions into a state’s economy–but that’s what you sometimes have to do. You have to prove it to counteract the negative drumbeat from radical anti-drillers and leftist mainstream media. So Dominion, a huge utility/pipeline company operating in 14 states including the Marcellus/Utica region, commissioned a study that looks at how many jobs and how much money will be pumped into the State of Virginia over the next five years if all of the pipeline and electric plant projects they have on the books happen. The study (full copy below) finds Dominion is set to invest $10.1 billion and create nearly 12,000 jobs over the next five years in the Old Dominion. A sizable portion of the new projects and jobs are tied to natural gas…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

Shhh…Invenergy Plans Design Changes at Jessup Electric Plant
November 12, 2015November 12, 2015

As MDN has previously chronicled, Chicago-based Invenergy hopes to build what will be the largest (to date) electric generating plant in the state of Pennsylvania powered by natural gas (see Public Hearing on NEPA Proposed Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). Invenergy hopes to build the 1300-megawatt plant (incorrectly listed as 1500 megawatts in the excerpt below) in the borough of Jessup (Lackawanna County), near Scranton. The company is making a change in the design of the plant to make it a tad bit quieter, which will make the neighbors happy…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Gemma Power Gets Contract to Build Moxie Freedom Electric Plant
November 11, 2015September 12, 2016

Over a year ago MDN broke the news that Moxie Energy was in the hunt to begin a third new Marcellus gas-powered electric plant project in Pennsylvania (see Moxie Energy in Hunt for Third Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant?). Indeed, our suspicions were borne out and Moxie pursued a project to build a plant in Luzerne County. Moxie is calling it the Freedom project and in November they received approval from Salem Township to proceed (see Moxie’s NEPA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Gets 1st Approval). In September Moxie received the all-important approval–permission from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Moxie’s NEPA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Gets DEP Approval). We were convinced that like the previous two such projects, Moxie Liberty and Moxie Patriot were sold to Panda Power Funds, the company that is right now building them. However, a press release was just issued by Gemma Power Systems that says Gemma has been selected by Moxie to build the $800 million project. Here’s the details from Gemma on what technology they will use to build the 1,000-megawatt plant near Scranton…
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Chautauqua County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | NRG Energy | Regulation

Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

As MDN previously reported, a coal-fired electric generating plant near Buffalo (in Dunkirk) was slated to be converted to burn natural gas–a win/win for everyone (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). Oh sure, radical environmentalists like the Sierra Club opposed it, but that’s to be expected. Crazy people do crazy things. Everything seemed to be fine until a competitor hauled NRG, the plant’s owner, into court to dispute the change from coal to natgas. Sounds equally crazy that a competitor can stop the change, but NRG says fighting the case will take years, so they’re just going to close the plant down (see Lawsuit Prevents NY Power Plant from Converting to NatGas, Closing). Sadly, last week the New York State Independent System Operator (NYISO) gave its blessing to NRG to close down the Dunkirk plant. This is an economic nuclear bomb for that community. The Town of Dunkirk gets 40% of its tax revenue from the plant. What will they do now?…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oswego County | Regulation

NY Gov Cuomo Vows to Fight FitzPatrick Nuke Plant Closure
November 4, 2015August 11, 2016

Two days ago MDN told you that the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego, NY will shut down, largely because it can no longer compete with electric plants powered by cheap Marcellus Shale gas (see PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY). New York Gov. Cuomo banned fracking, so NY doesn’t produce any cheap, abundant, clean-burning natural gas. That’s a burr under Andy’s saddle. He detests closing the nuke plant because gas has won. So instead of letting market economics (you know, free enterprise) dictate what happens in NY, Cuomo is gearing up to fight the closure of the FitzPatrick nuclear plant. The company that owns FitzPatrick also owns another nuke plant in NY called Indian Point. Cuomo WANTS to shut down Indian Point–has been trying to for years. But he doesn’t want to shut down FitzPatrick. What kind of crazy man is he?…
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Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Taxation | West Virginia

Marshall County Commissioner Still Opposes $615M Electric Plant
November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

In August 2014 the Marshall County, WV board of commissioners (a 3-person board) voted to approve a plan to build a Marcellus Shale-powered electric plant in the county (see Marshall County Votes to Accept Gas-Powered Electric Plant). The vote was a bit complicated. In a nutshell, Moundsville Power, a company owned by developers from Buffalo, NY, proposed a deal to the county. They want to build a 549-megawatt plant costing $615 million. But if Moundsville owns the plant, it’s subjected to high property taxes. Moundsville proposed selling the plant to the county but running it for them. In essence the county will own the plant on paper. Because it’s county owned, no property taxes! However, Moundsville would make rental payments to the county–or payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). The payments would not be as much as if it were taxed–about $13 million less over 30 years. But the county still gets $31 million over those 30 years–and $31M is a whole lot better than $0. Moundsville would not have built the plant at all if not for the PILOT arrangement. One of the three commissioners, Bob Miller, voted against the plan. Now he’s trying to convince the state legislature to overturn the PILOT plan, although he says he still wants the deal with Moundsville to go forward…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oswego County

PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY
November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant

Low-cost Marcellus Shale gas has just taken out a nuclear plant in New York State. Entergy, owner of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba, NY, says they will shut down the plant in 2016 or 2017 because of the “continued deteriorating economics of the facility” and because of “significantly reduced plant revenues due to low natural gas prices, a poor market design that fails to properly compensate nuclear generators like FitzPatrick for their benefits, as well as high operational costs.” The FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant generates 838 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 800,000 homes, and employs 600 people in Oswego County, NY. Essentially over-regulation that drives up costs have shut it down. The question now is, where will those 800,000 homes get their electricity? Oh, they won’t go dark. But they will begin to pay much higher prices for their electricity than they do now. Unless a new natgas-fired electric plant opens up…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Panda Power Funds | Pennsylvania | Snyder County

Update on Panda Power’s Huge Marcellus-Powered PA Electric Plant
October 29, 2015October 29, 2015

Panda Power’s Rendering of New Hummel Plant – click image for larger version

In February MDN told you that Panda Power Funds, a private equity firm located in Dallas, TX already committed to building two 829-megawatt electric generating plants in Pennsylvania, was partnering with Sunbury Generation to build a whopping 1,000-megawatt plant on the site of a recently retired coal-fired plant near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County, PA (see Panda Power Building 3rd Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant in PA). It is, by all accounts, one of the largest coal-to-gas conversion projects in the country. Yesterday Panda released more details about the project. It will actually be 1,124 megawatts. Panda has contracted with Bechtel and Siemens Energy to build the plant, which, when up and running, will provide enough electricity to power 1 million homes. Here’s the latest on Panda’s “Hummel Station” project that will be fed by Marcellus Shale gas, including the tech being used to build it…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Potter County

Coal-Fired Electric Plant in PA Closes Instead of Using Natgas
October 27, 2015October 27, 2015

More electricity is disappearing from the electrical grid thanks for Barack H. Obama’s war on coal. AES had considered converting a coal-powered electric plant is operates in Potter County, PA into burning natural gas–indeed had applied for and received permits to do it–but instead they reversed course and have now shuttered the plant they operate in Potter known as the Bear Valley plant…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Philly Transport Authority Building Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant
October 26, 2015October 26, 2015

Good old fracked Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas will begin powering passenger trains in Philadelphia starting in 2017, if all goes according to plan. SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) announced as part of its “sustainability” efforts they plan to build their own electric generating plant powered by Marcellus Shale gas. The $26.8 million plant will save them money, be better for the environment, and heat SEPTA’s largest bus garage (with excess heat from the plant) to boot. It’s a win/win/win all the way around…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

States Gear Up to Fight Obama’s Illegal Clean Power Plan in Court
October 23, 2015October 23, 2015

In August our Dear Leader, Barack Hussein Obama, introduced his latest edict called the Clean Power Plan. The plan uses the federal Environmental Protection Agency to completely eliminate coal-fired electric plants, and greatly diminish natural gas-fired electric plants (see Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan). It is the latest in a long line of illegal presidential edicts coming from the Obamadroids. In short order 15 states sued the federal government to stop this madness (see Ohio and 15 Other States Ask EPA to Delay Clean Power Plan). But a federal court refused to allow the implementation to happen while the lawsuit grinds through its process (see Minor Setback: Fed Court Tells States “No Delay, Yet” re Obama CPP). Planning for implementation is now underway and an EPA flack spoke to the press to share how pleasantly surprised she is that most states are completely docile and willing to be screwed this way. With the final printing of the rule in the Federal Register today, states will now have up to 60 days to file new lawsuits to stop it. You can bet your bottom dollar they will…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

6 NatGas-Powered Electric Plants On the Way in OH/WV
October 19, 2015October 19, 2015

With President Obama’s war on coal in full swing, so-called renewable energy sources like wind and solar can’t possibly pick up the slack from coal-powered electric generating plants shutting down. Coal-fired electric plants are shutting down at an alarming rate–we’ve lost 11 million megawatts of coal-fired electric capacity in the past year alone. That situation spells opportunity for natural gas. One reason that natgas is making inroads in the electric generating space is because it’s a whole lot cheaper today than it was just a few short years ago to use clean-burning natural gas to power electric plants. In 2008 the price of natural gas sold for an average of $13 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Today? The price of gas has been bumping along at around $2.75/Mcf. In places like southwest Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio Marcellus and Utica gas sells for around $1.50-$1.75/Mcf. So it’s no wonder electric plants powered by natural gas are springing up all over the place. Below is a quick look at six such plants in eastern Ohio and West Virginia…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | TC Energy/TransCanada

TransCanada Buying Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant in Lebanon PA
October 15, 2015October 15, 2015

Canadian company TransCanada is perhaps best known for its Keystone XL Pipeline project, a 1,179-mile crude oil pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska–if it ever gets built. Lord Obama opposes the pipeline and as we all know when a dictator opposes something, it doesn’t happen. The Keystone XL Pipeline would flow Canadian crude oil as far south as Texas. However, moving Canadian oil isn’t the only thing TransCanada does. They’re also owners of electric generating plants, and one of the markets they have their eye on is the northeast with its access to abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. Last week TransCanada announced a deal to buy the Ironwood natural gas-fired power plant located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Ironwood produces up to 778 megawatts of electricity–enough electricity to power over half a million homes. TransCanada is paying $654 million to buy the plant…
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