Electrical Generation

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    Star Trek Actor with Upstate NY Home Speaks Against Power Plant

    James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane
    James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane

    Oh darnit…Don’t tell us Zefram Cochrane is against a new clean-burning natural gas electric plant too! Who’s Zefram Cochrane? He’s the fictional creator of the warp drive that powers star ships like the Enterprise in the Star Trek pantheon of television and movie series. Actor James Cromwell played Cochrane in the 1996 movie Star Trek: First Contact. (Yes, we’re big-time Trekkies!) Cromwell, also known for his role as Farmer Arthur Hoggett in the 1995 movie Babe (he was nominated for an Academy Award), was born and raised in Manhattan and maintains a summer home in upstate New York in Orange County, near Middletown. Cromwell is a big-time liberal–someone who thinks upstate should be the personal playground for rich, New York City libs, kept pristine from any kind of development. In other words–keep the poor folk poor in upstate so the rich folk from the city can enjoy their weekends unmolested by the noise of trucks and bulldozers. And therein lies our distress. We like Cromwell’s acting, but not his acting when he attended a court hearing in Orange County last week to lend his voice and his fame to an effort to stop a proposed Marcellus gas-fired electric plant planned for the Town of Wawayanda, near Cromwell’s summer home…
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    New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to…Rhode Island?!

    Yet another new electric generating plant that will use abundant, cheap and clean-burning natural gas to power it was recently announced in…Rhode Island? Yep–Rhode Island, the socialist paradise on the East Coast. Home to old money and people who oppose change of any kind. At a big ceremony last week none other than RI’s Gov. Gina Raimondo joined the CEO of Invenergy to announce the Clear River Energy Center–a 900 megawatt electric generating plant that runs on natural gas. The new plant will lower RI residents’ electric bills by a collective $280 million and replace aging coal and oil power plants–cleaning the air in the process. With the jobs created, the investment in the facility, and lower electric rates, it’s calculated this single plant will have a $1.3 billion impact on the economy of RI. Now if we can only get either the Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct or Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast pipelines built…
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    Moody’s: NatGas Will Trump Coal & Nuclear in PJM Electric Auction

    Increasingly the natural gas and electricity markets are becoming bosom buddies. Why? Because natural gas is displacing coal and even nuclear power as the preferred fuel to power electric generating plants. This is a profound change happening right now–important for you to understand as it will play a key role in new markets for Marcellus/Utica Shale gas now and into the future. Lesson #1: PJM Interconnection is a regional transmission organization (RTO) coordinating the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia (essentially Appalachia). PJM’s electric transmission grid covers all or parts of: Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Electricity moving through those areas is coordinated by PJM–meaning new electric generating plants that get built, or existing plants that get upgraded/converted to burn other fuel sources, must go through a PJM approval process. From time to time PJM conducts capacity auctions to increase the amount of, and reliability of, electric supply for the grid. PJM is currently conducting such an auction, and according to a new research report from Moody’s Investors Service, coal and nuclear electric generating plants will likely lose out to natural gas-fired electric plants thanks to the low price of Marcellus Shale gas…
    Read More “Moody’s: NatGas Will Trump Coal & Nuclear in PJM Electric Auction”

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    NatGas Gensets Market Worth $147B Over Next 10 Years

    Just when you think you’ve heard all of the various markets where natural gas is used, markets that will sop up the huge increase in supply we have, you hear of a new one. At least, it’s new to us. On MDN you’ve read many times about electric generating plants that burn natural gas to generate electricity (see our list of stories here). There is another, similar, market called natural gas gensets, or generator sets. Essentially gensets are smaller electric generating “plants”, from 15 kilowatts to 20 megawatts in size, used by homes, businesses and utility companies. Many times gensets are used as backup and standby generators (think backup generator at your local hospital where power interruption is literally a life or death situation). Navigant Research has just published a report that estimates the market for natural gas gensets will expand to $147 billion (yes, billion) over the next ten years. Looks like big backup generators are going natgas!…
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    Lancaster Coal Burning Electric Plant Adding Marcellus NatGas

    We often hear about, and report on, new electric generating plants being built that will use Marcellus (or Utica) Shale gas. Panda Power, Invenergy and others are building plants around Pennsylvania to take advantage of cheap, abundant and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. What you don’t hear often, but is equally as important, are existing coal plants converting to burn natural gas. The “much-maligned” Brunner Island coal-fired power plant on the edge of Lancaster County, PA is one such plant. Brunner Island will keep its coal burning operation at the plant–for now. They are, however, spending $100 million to add natural gas burners to help drive the plant’s three electric generators. This is an accelerating trend with electric generating plants across the country, particularly in the northeast…
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    The Rotten Core of Obama’s Clean Power Plan: Global Warming Myth

    The uber-arrogant Barack H. Obama and his bullying Environmental Protection Agency have given us an untenable Clean Power Plan that a) guts the rest of the coal industry, and b) sets its sights on gutting the natural gas industry, for power generation, too (see Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan). The core tenant/religious belief perpetrated by Obama is the myth that mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, with an increase in carbon dioxide, is leading to a catastrophic warming of the earth’s atmosphere. There is no credible scientific proof for such a theory–it’s only a theory. But that doesn’t stop Obama and his minions from using it as an excuse to shut down legal and legitimate businesses that use fossil fuels to generate electricity. Since global warming jiggery-pokery is central to Obama’s Clean Power Plan, we thought it would be instructive to show you the headlines from six years, in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. The headlines then, as now, blare that we have “just five years left” before it’s “too late”. We’re now six years later without the beseeched onerous policies and guess what: We’re no worse off today than we were then. The planet didn’t get warmer (and hasn’t for 18 years now). In fact, the global warming meme has been circulating for 100 years (see Global Warming Meme has Been Around Nearly 100 Years). Today we bring you a guest blogger that illustrates the falseness of global warmers’ claims by comparing their predictions from six years ago (that didn’t come true) with their predictions now…
    Read More “The Rotten Core of Obama’s Clean Power Plan: Global Warming Myth”

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    Anti-Drilling Pittsburgh Newspaper Backs Obama Plan to Dump NatGas

    Once again the editorial writers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette slavishly support anything Barack Hussein Obama does–including his plan to dump natural gas use for electric generating plants in his recently released Clean Power Plan (see Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan). Their default assumption is that mankind, by burning fossil fuels, is causing a catastrophic warming of the the earth–a silly notion proven wrong by science. But actual facts don’t matter anymore (really, when did fact EVER matter to liberals?). They continue to hum the mantra–humans are evil, they cause global warming. And so B.H.O.’s plan is better than nothin’ according to the wizards of smart at the Post-Gazette…
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    PA Gov Wolf Salutes Obama, Eagerly Buys into Clean Power Plan

    On Monday President Obama and his rogue Environmental Protection Agency made another power grab, infringing on our freedom and liberty, with the release of a so-called Clean Power Plan (see Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan). As we pointed out, natural gas use in electric generating plants is one of the casualties in Obama’s latest “brilliant” strategy, much to the consternation of those in the oil and gas industry. But two very important people in Pennsylvania love Obama’s overreach–America’s most liberal governor, Gov. Tom Wolf, and his minion PennFuture Sec. of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley. They think Obama’s Clean Power Plan is just dandy–and they intend to plunge Pennsylvania down the same rat hole Obama is taking the rest of the country…
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    UGI Provides Update on PennEast & Other New PA Pipeline Projects

    During the AmeriGas Partners quarterly analyst conference call yesterday, Pennsylvania utility giant UGI Corporation CEO John Walsh gave an update on several projects of interest for those in the PA Marcellus Shale. Oh! We should point out AmeriGas is the country’s largest propane company and a subsidiary of PA-based UGI, which is why Walsh was on the call. And what did he say? Walsh provided an update on UGI’s $60 million project to build a new LNG production plant in Wyoming County, PA (see UGI Building LNG Plant in NEPA, Local Marcellus Gas to Feed It). He also spoke in glowing terms about the PennEast Pipeline and how he sees that project unfolding (it should be operational by late 2017). Walsh also updated analysts on several pending pipeline projects that will feed electric plants being built in the Marcellus. Here’s what he said yesterday…
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    Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan

    backstabberYesterday our glorious Dear Leader, Barack Hussein Obama, made his final push for total (clean) dictatorial power. And since Republicans in Congress have lost their courage and their way, he’s likely to achieve it. Yesterday the Obama administration unveiled its Communist Clean Power Plan, a plan that illegally violates just about every Constitutional freedom we have left in this country. You see, our Dear Leader believes in the fairy tale of man-made global warming–even though it doesn’t exist. And he’s using that belief to not only screw the coal industry, he’s also using it to screw the shale energy industry too. Surprised? We aren’t. We’ve told you for years that Obama’s actions speak much louder than his words when it comes to shale energy–of his lack of support for shale energy. Now his words are matching his actions. Obama abandoned his words of support for natural gas in unveiling his so-called Clean Power Plan that will result in not only coal powered electric generating plants closing in large numbers–but will also put natural gas fired plants on the endangered list too. Lord Obama now touts so-called renewable energy only. No more talk about using natural gas as a bridge fuel. That’s verboten. Instead of letting the free market choose which power source it wants for energy, Lord Obama has made the decision for us. Sieg heil, Obama!…
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    PennEast Changes Route Where it Crosses Appalachian Trail

    This story is cool on many levels. Score another PR victory, and another clever re-route, for the PennEast Pipeline. PennEast, you may recall, is a $1 billion, 110-mile, 36-inch diameter natural gas pipeline that will run from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ. It is vigorously opposed by Big Green groups like the nutty Sierra Clubbers and THE Delaware Riverkeeper. Some who oppose it have threatened violence (see today’s companion story). Why? Because the PennEast will flow that evil, nasty fossil fuel called natural gas. Can’t have that, you know. PennEast has made a course correction that is sure to cut down on the time it requires to get approved. The course correction is where the PennEast will cross the Appalachian Trail in Carbon County, PA. The course correction also lets the PennEast deliver cheap Marcellus Shale gas to a new electric generating plant being built by the Blue Mountain Ski Resort…
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    Electric Grid & NE Pipeline Companies Get Up Close and Personal

    PJM Interconnection is a regional electric transmission organization that coordinates wholesale electricity for 13 states and the District of Columbia. PJM, headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, covers the electric grid in the Marcellus/Utica region, including PA, OH, WV, MD, KY and VA. It is the world’s largest competitive wholesale electricity market with 900 members serving 61 million people! In a clear signal just how important shale gas has become for electric generators, PJM yesterday announced yesterday an agreement (deal?) to work more closely with a group of the biggest pipeline companies in the Marcellus/Utica “to work more closely with each other to improve operational planning and address growing interdependence between the electric and natural gas industries”–at least through June 2016. Working more closely means sharing non-public information back and forth between PJM and the pipeline companies…
    Read More “Electric Grid & NE Pipeline Companies Get Up Close and Personal”

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    Shell Will Build Gas-Fired Electric Plant to Power PA Cracker

    If Shell builds an ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, as they’ve been teasing since 2011, the massive plant will require a lot of electricity to power it–enough electricity to power 100,000 homes. Shell does not plan to just hook up to the local utility for its electricity. Instead, they will build their own natural gas-powered electric generating plant on location. Any electricity they generate but can’t use will be sold to the local power grid…
    Read More “Shell Will Build Gas-Fired Electric Plant to Power PA Cracker”

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    $800M Utica Gas-Fired Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carroll Cnty

    Exactly two years ago this month MDN brought you news that Carroll County Energy in Carroll County, OH–a subsidiary of Advanced Power Services–would spend $800 million to build a new 700-megawatt natural gas electric generating plant in the county to be fed by Utica Shale gas (see New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH). It took a while, but yesterday officials held the official ground-breaking ceremony for the plant. Over the next 30 months Advance will create some 700 “temporary” jobs to build the plant–and when it goes live, the plant will employ 25-30 permanent full-time employees…
    Read More “$800M Utica Gas-Fired Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carroll Cnty”

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    Talen Energy Picks Up Gas-Fired Electric Plants – Marcellus in View

    An electric generation company based in Allentown, PA–Talen Energy–has just cut a deal to acquire MACH Gen, LLC, the owner of three natural gas-fired electric generating plants. One of those plants is located in upstate New York and is likely to begin using cheap, abundant, clean-burning natural gas from the gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA once the Constitution Pipeline is built. Another of the three MACH electric generating plants is located in Massachusetts and also likely (in our opinion) to burn Marcellus Shale gas. Below is the announcement from Talen followed by two articles that reference the NY and MA plants as likely candidates to use Marcellus Shale gas…
    Read More “Talen Energy Picks Up Gas-Fired Electric Plants – Marcellus in View”

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    Dominion to Build Electric Plant in S VA Powered by Marcellus Gas

    Dominion, a large utility and midstream (i.e. pipeline) company operating in 13 states, including the Marcellus/Utica region, yesterday filed a request with the Virginia State Corporate Commission (SCC) to build a $1.3 billion state-of-the-art natural gas-fired electric generating station in Greensville County, VA. The new power station will generate 1,600 megawatts–enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. Greensville County sits along the southern border of Virginia–sharing a border with North Carolina. Oh, and guess which pipeline flowing boatloads of cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas is due to cross right through the middle of Greensville County? Yep–Dominion’s 550-mile, $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that will run from West Virginia through to North Carolina…
    Read More “Dominion to Build Electric Plant in S VA Powered by Marcellus Gas”