Electrical Generation

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

Fossil Fuel Hatred Run Amok: Sierra Club Against Clean Air in PA
April 29, 2015May 4, 2015

Converting from burning coal to burning natural gas to produce electricity is, according to the vast majority of Americans, a good thing to do. Coal burns much dirtier than natgas–it’s a plain and simple fact. We’re not slamming coal or saying we should stop burning coal–we’re just keepin’ it real. When Invenergy announced they planned to build Pennsylvania’s largest gas-fired electric plant near Scranton, in Jessup Borough (Lackawanna County), PA, and fire it with cheap, abundant and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas, most folks welcomed it (see Marcellus Gas to Power Combined-Cycle Electricity Plant in NE PA). Oh, there’s always a small minority who oppose such plans (see Gas-Powered Electric Plant to be Built “on Thousands of People”). You would think so-called environmentalists would be the first in line to support such a project because it makes the air cleaner. But then, you would be wrong. A classic case in point is the Sierra Club–an organization that exists to fundraise. The Sierra Club is against the Jessup electric plant project. Why? Because it will “encourage further natural gas hydraulic fracturing in Northeast Pennsylvania”…
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CNG/LNG | Electrical Generation | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Research

IHS CERAWeek Prediction: Marcellus will Produce 30 Bcf/d by 2035
April 29, 2015April 28, 2015

A useful update and prediction on how much natural gas will be produced in the Marcellus by the early 2020s and eventually, by 2035 at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston last week. In addition, another analyst outlined the pipeline/midstream situation in the northeast. You’ll want to read what they had to say about how much gas will be produced in the Marcellus, and where it will get used/sold…
Read More “IHS CERAWeek Prediction: Marcellus will Produce 30 Bcf/d by 2035”
CNG/LNG | Electrical Generation | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Research

Navigant: US Natgas Output Will Rise to 110 Bcf/d by 2035
April 29, 2015April 28, 2015

The energy practice for global consulting firm Navigant recently published a new report titled “North American Natural Gas Market Outlook, Year-End 2014” that examines the state of the natural gas industry and provides forecasts for supply and demand through 2035. Among the highlights: Navigant says U.S. natural gas supply will increase from 72 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015 to nearly 110 Bcf/d by 2035. Navigant says the big users of all that extra production will be LNG export facilities and electric generating plants that will be built new or converted from burning coal…
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Brooke County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant Seeks Approval from PJM
April 23, 2015April 23, 2015

In early March, MDN told you about plans by a father and son team to build not one but four Marcellus gas-powered electric generating plants in West Virginia (see Big News: 3 More Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to WV). Although they haven’t fully committed yet, Andrew and Matthew Dorn, the father/son behind the projects, are hurrying to file regulatory paperwork for at least one of the new proposed plants (in Brooke County) to beat a deadline…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Invenergy Gets Notice of Violation in PA for Disturbing 3 Mud Puddles
April 22, 2015May 4, 2015

One more twist in what is shaping up to be a very long process to build the state’s largest electric generating plant powered by Marcellus Shale gas. Invenergy hopes to build the 1500-megawatt plant in the borough of Jessup (Lackawanna County), near Scranton, on an 80-acre former coal mine and landfill site (see UGI to Feed Jessup, PA Electric Plant with Marcellus Shale Gas). The project was announced in 2013. Part of the evaluation process for the site is to determine if there’s nasty stuff left over from the landfill that needs to be moved. Invenergy hired a company to drill some test holes to analyze what’s down there. As part of drilling those holes, the company hired “disturbed” three wetlands areas. In other words, they pushed some dirt around in three mud puddles/swamps. Invenergy recognized the error and immediately notified the Dept. of Environmental Protection who has now, nine months later, issued a notice of violation to Invenergy for disturbing the mud puddles. It remains to be seen how costly the error was…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

List of 6 New Natural Gas-Fired Electric Plants Coming to Ohio
April 9, 2015April 9, 2015

There are “at least” six natural gas-fired electric generating plants planned for Ohio. Yesterday we told you that one of the plants, in Carroll County, will break ground this week (see New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carrollton, OH). Advanced Power Services’ Carroll County Energy LLC is spending $900 million to build an electric plant north of Carrollton. What about the other five. Who’s building them and where?…
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Carroll County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carrollton, OH
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

A new Utica Shale-powered electric generating plant to be built in Carroll County, OH was first announced back in 2013 (see New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH). Advanced Power Services’ Carroll County Energy LLC plans to plunk down $900 million to build an electric plant north of Carrollton. Good news: the company now has all of its approvals and will break ground later this week…
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Brooke County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Regulation | West Virginia

Brooke County, WV Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Plan Advances
April 6, 2015April 5, 2015

A month ago MDN brought you the big news that the father and son team building a $615 million, 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas are planning to build three more of them–all in West Virginia (see Big News: 3 More Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to WV). Two of the three new plants will, if built, be located in Brooke County, WV. Last month the Brooke County Commission signed two memorandums of understanding with Energy Solutions Consortium (father and son Andrew and Matthew Dorn) to agree to a plan to let the Dorns build the plants and then sell them to the county, leasing them back to run them–a plan called a PILOT plan, or “payment in lieu of taxes.” The plan allows the Dorns to avoid paying prohibitively high property taxes on the plants while still generating a big, fat payment to the county and local school district. Last week the local board of education and town council also signed on to the plan, an important next step in making the project a reality…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | UGI Energy Services

UGI to Feed Jessup, PA Electric Plant with Marcellus Shale Gas
April 6, 2015October 17, 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 project has it’s opponents, some of whom make some outrageous claims (see Gas-Powered Electric Plant to be Built “on Thousands of People”). There’s been some important progress with this project. UGI, the local electric and gas utility company, has just announced they will upgrade 19 miles of pipeline and build 3 miles of new pipeline to feed the proposed plant with yummy, cheap, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas…
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Alternative Energy | Dominion Energy | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Virginia’s Largest Electric Plant to be Powered by Marcellus Gas
March 27, 2015March 27, 2015

Yesterday 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. (By the way, Dominion won the Award for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility at the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards on Wednesday in Pittsburgh. Well done!) The $1 billion project will produce 1,600 megawatts of electricity using combined-cycle technology–enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. Dominion will use Marcellus Shale gas to power the plant, provided by Williams’ Transco pipeline. The plant will also be fed by a second Marcellus Shale pipeline–Dominion’s own Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion, 550-mile pipeline slated to run from West Virginia through Virginia and into to North Carolina (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). Between just these two projects, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Greensville County electric plant, Dominion is pumping an astounding $6 billion into the economy of the Mid-Atlantic region, made possible by the miracle of fracking and the amazing Marcellus Shale. In addition to building the natgas-powered electric plant, Dominion also plans to build a large-scale solar project at the Greensville County site, which will make so-called environmentalists happy. Perhaps a spoonful of solar sugar will help the natgas medicine go down–in a most delightful way…
Read More “Virginia’s Largest Electric Plant to be Powered by Marcellus Gas”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD | Transco | Williams

Williams Gets FERC Approval for 11-Mile Pipeline in NE Maryland
March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

Good news! Williams announced yesterday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved their Transco pipeline application to expand the Transco system and construct an 11-mile pipeline lateral connecting Transco to an electric power generating facility in Cecil County, Maryland. The “Rock Springs expansion project” will transport 192,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s soon-to-be-built Wildcat Point Generation Facility. Wildcat will generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity–enough to power 390,000 homes in the region…
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Commodity Price | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Research

Is Natgas a Good Long-Term Fuel to Fire Electric Plants?
March 17, 2015March 17, 2015

Last week MDN told you the Union of So-Called Concerned Scientists had issued a “report” (rather unscientific, written by someone with a political science degree) to say even though Obama’s war on coal has been successful, it’s having the unintended consequence of electric generation power plants switching from coal to natural gas to fire them. UCS and other so-called green groups irrationally hate fossil fuels and want the switching to be from coal to so-called renewables, like solar and wind. So in an effort to besmirch and call into doubt the long-term viability of natural gas as a fuel source to generate electricity, UCS issued a report saying using natural gas to power electric plants is a “gamble” (see UCS “Report” Says Using Natural Gas for Electric Generation Big Gamble). The theory is that natural gas will run out in a few years, or become obscenely expensive, and all of those natgas-fired electric plants will mean super high electric rates. The problem with such “reports” is something called reality. We just noticed a press release from Midland Cogeneration Venture (MCV), the country’s largest natural-gas fired combined heat and electrical power generating plant, located in Michigan. The release was to commemorate an important milestone for MCV–the plant has been up and operating and supplying enough electricity for one million homes PLUS electricity and steam for major industry facilities, for the last 25 years…
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CNG/LNG | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Does New England Really Need a New Natgas Pipeline?
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Don’t look now, but we actually read a pretty fair and balanced report on pipelines to New England…published by PBS! We predict a reporter who will soon be out of a job. The article (which we quote from below) frames up the arguments against and for new natural gas pipelines coming to New England this way: Those against say electric generation that requires natgas really only demands an extra supply in the dead of winter–typically 30-45 days. Because of that heightened demand, it drives electric prices through the roof because the plants have to buy the gas on the spot market. The rest of the year that kind of intense demand is not there–meaning you’ll spend billions on pipelines to solve a 30-45 day problem. And the rest of the year? Some of that gas will go to Canada and likely get exported. Better to use the existing LNG terminal in Boston and import (!) liquefied natural gas, instead of using cheap, abundant Marcellus gas from a few hundred miles away, and use more LNG at electric generation plants. Those who favor building the pipelines see it differently…
Read More “Does New England Really Need a New Natgas Pipeline?”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

Gas-Powered Electric Plant to be Built “on Thousands of People”
March 10, 2015May 4, 2015

Since 2013 we’ve been tracking the story that Invenergy, a company that builds and operates clean energy electric generating plants like those powered by natural gas, plans to build such a plant near Scranton, PA (see Marcellus Gas to Power Combined-Cycle Electricity Plant in NE PA). In October 2014, Invenergy purchased the 80-acre parcel in Jessup where they plan to build the plant (see Invenergy Buys Land in NEPA for Natgas Electric Generating Plant). In January of this year, the first in what will be a string of public hearings was held in Jessup (see Public Hearing on NEPA Proposed Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). There was understandable concern from some area residents about air quality and other issues. Now that the plant is getting much closer to reality, it’s time for the anti-drillers to come out–and right on cue, they have. One of them is quoted as saying the plant will “be built on thousands of people. Literally thousands of people.” Wait. Did we miss something? Is this plant being built on top of cemetery? Is Invenergy planning on killing thousands and throwing the bodies in a trench so they can construct a plant on top of them?…
Read More “Gas-Powered Electric Plant to be Built “on Thousands of People””
Brooke County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | West Virginia

Big News: 3 More Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to WV
March 6, 2015March 6, 2015

Three weeks ago MDN reported a Buffalo, NY-based company had successfully gotten all necessary permits to move forward with building a $615 million, 549 megawatt electrical generating plant near Moundsville, WV that will be powered by Marcellus Shale gas (see Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light). Then we told you the plant will burn not only methane (natgas), but also up to 25% of the mix will be ethane (see WV Moundsville Electric Generating Plant to Burn Methane + Ethane!). Looks like the Moundsville project was the proverbial canary down the WV coal mine–and it lived! In the past few days the father and son team behind the Moundsville project have announced three (yes 3!) more just like it–all in WV. Why is this a big hairy deal? The Moundsville plant was already slated to be WV’s single largest user/consumer of natural gas. Just think how much gas will be used quadrupling that number…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

WV Moundsville Electric Generating Plant to Burn Methane + Ethane!
February 24, 2015February 24, 2015

Since April of last year, MDN has written about and monitored a new project to build a $615 million electrical generating plant in Marshall County, WV that will burn Marcellus Shale gas (see MDN stories about it here). Called Moundsville Power, the project received a final green light last week (see Marshall Co Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets WV Green Light). Andrew Dorn, managing partner for Moundsville Power, recently shed more light on the project. Dorn gave a timeframe for when construction will begin, along with some other interesting factoids. Here’s something we didn’t know: the new plant will be one of the first in the U.S. to burn ethane…
Read More “WV Moundsville Electric Generating Plant to Burn Methane + Ethane!”