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NET Power Takes Another Step – Signs Deal with Lummus Technology

Last December, Rice Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) started by the Rice brothers (Danny, Toby, and Derek), announced a deal to acquire NET Power — an electric power developer with revolutionary new technology to capture every last molecule of carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants (see Dan Rice Buys Co. that Builds Zero-Carbon Gas-Fired Electric Plants). The Rice deal to buy NET Power closed in early June, with Danny Rice (former CEO of Rice Energy) becoming the new CEO of NET Power (see NET Power Completes $1.5B Merger with Rice Acquisition Corp.). During a recent quarterly update, Rice said the project, known as Project Permian, would be delayed to “between the second half of 2027 and the first half of 2028” (see NET Power Delays World’s 1st NatGas Plant with Zero Emissions). The project was supposed to come online in 2026. We have some progress to report.
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Massachusetts Commits Energy Hari-kari – Plans to Ban NatGas

After more than three years of “study,” the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued an order yesterday meant to signal gas utilities that they don’t have a long-term future in the state. With Order 20-80, the DPU aims to “guide the evolution of the natural gas distribution industry to clean energy” with an eye towards the state’s goal of getting to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 while supposedly protecting ratepayers and ensuring energy reliability. The 20-80 order accomplishes neither goal but instead sentences Massachusetts to a cold and dismal future without natural gas.
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DUG Appalachia: Energy Trader Says New England in for Nasty Surprise

Yet another top-notch speaker at Hart Energy’s DUG Appalachia event in Pittsburgh was leading energy trader Dennis Kissler from BOK Financial. During his talk, Kissler said, “New England has dodged a bullet because they’ve actually seen mild winter followed by mild summer and a mild winter to the start of this year.” And, says Kissler, if we get a cold snap, New England is in for a nasty surprise: brownouts. “They’re going to realize they’re going to need another source of power.” And that source of power is natural gas.
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Big Green Files Appeal of PA Court Rejecting RGGI Carbon Tax

Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that he will appeal a decision by the Commonwealth Court that blocks PA’s entrance into the obscene Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proves He’s Radical Left – Appeals RGGI Decision). PA’s Commonwealth Court was not fooled by the Democrat left’s attempt to rename a tax as a fee to circumvent the necessary approval needed by the state legislature in approving taxes as provided for by the state constitution. The court ruled against the plan to force PA into joining RGGI a few weeks ago (see Near-Fatal Blow for PA Carbon Tax – Commonwealth Court Blocks 4-1). Shapiro appealed the case to the Democrat-loaded PA Supreme Court, where like-minded leftists are inclined to violate the law and grant Shapiro a win on this. However, four Big Green groups are not willing to let Shapiro carry all the water on this one. They don’t trust Shapiro to get the job done, so they’ve filed their own appeal.
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TVA Proposes New 500 MW Natural Gas Power Plant in Mississippi

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility in the U.S. Two years ago, MDN told you that TVA is spending over $1 billion to replace six coal-fired plants with natgas-fired turbines (see TVA Investing $1B to Build New Natgas-Fired Electric Plants). A number of those projects are underway. All of them are opposed (typically via lawsuits) by foreign-backed Big Green groups (see our TVA stories here). Yesterday, TVA announced another proposed new gas-fired power plant — this one in Mississippi.
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NatGas Continues to Dominate in U.S. Electric Generation in 2024

We spotted a pair of articles noting a decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S. energy sector in 2023. One of the articles, from the Bidenistas at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), credits an increase in so-called renewable power generation as the main reason for the decrease. The second article, from Philadelphia attorney Dan Markind, who writes about the Marcellus, properly credits the decrease in CO2 emissions to the retirement of coal-fired power replaced by natural gas-fired power. However, a chart in the EIA article caught our attention and is why we titled this post the way we did. The indisputable fact is that natural gas continues to dominate power generation (the #1 fuel for powergen), which is unchanged in 2024 and for the foreseeable future.
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Does the U.S. Natural Gas Industry Have a Future?

A pair of analysts (authors/economists) have an article on the OilPrice.com website asking this question: Does the Natural Gas Industry Have a Future? They use data to paint a picture of a commodity (natural gas) that is, at best, in trouble. Why? The sales volume of natgas has gone up, but ever-so-slowly. The usage of natural gas by consumers to heat and cook is going down, especially in places that are banning it for those uses (like New York State). The picture painted by the authors appears to be pretty bleak. As usual, we have a different perspective.
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Energy Groups Gear Up to Oppose Shapiro’s Appeal of Carbon Tax

Last Wednesday, before heading out the door for the Thanksgiving holiday, MDN brought you the sad (but not unsurprising) news that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro had decided to appeal a Commonwealth Court decision striking down his predecessor’s attempt to force the state to implement a multi-billion-dollar carbon tax, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proves He’s Radical Left – Appeals RGGI Decision). As we told you in that post, several Big Green groups immediately posted love letters of support. The case now goes to the PA Supreme Court, which is packed with leftist Democrats. However, the PA Senate, controlled by Republicans and a growing list of energy groups, will make the case before the Supremes that the RGGI carbon tax should be dead once and for all.
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SWPA Unions Split with Dem Left re Loss of Gas-Fired Power Plant

In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natural gas-powered electric plant in rural Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County, PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually, Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in Allegheny Co. OKs Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant). In June 2021, the Allegheny County Health Department’s permitting section held a hearing to discuss potential emissions from the plant. The Health Department subsequently issued an installation (but not an operating) air permit. A mishmash of Big Green groups promptly challenged the installation permit (see Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA). Sadly, Invenergy threw in the towel a few weeks ago, canceling the project (see Invenergy Caves to Pressure and Cancels Allegheny Gas-Fired Plant). Labor unions in Southwestern PA are not happy about the project being canceled.
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PA Gov. Shapiro Proves He’s Radical Left – Appeals RGGI Decision

We’ll say it right up front: We told you so. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced yesterday that he will appeal a decision by the Commonwealth Court that blocks PA’s entrance into the obscene Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme. Are you surprised? Shocked? We certainly aren’t. Shapiro has just revived a huge threat to the future of the Marcellus Shale industry in the Keystone State. Still happy you voted for Shapiro? No, we didn’t think so.
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NY Grid Operator to Keep 4 NYC Peakers Online Past Deadline

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), the nonprofit that oversees the state’s electricity system, has warned New York State for YEARS of coming blackouts if peaker plants in New York City are forced to close in 2025 (see NY Grid Operator Again Warns NYC Heading for Blackouts re Peakers). NY Dems, who irrationally hate fossil energy, are forcing the closure of NYC’s peakers, believing unreliable renewables and a big, fat power line from Canada will be enough to keep the lights on. Good luck with that. NYISO has had enough of the nonsense. NYISO will forcibly keep four NYC peakers online — working past the 2025 deadline to shut them all down — in order to prevent a collapse of the electrical system downstate.
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Big Green Says Indiana Utility Plan for Gas Peaker is “Backsliding”

Have you ever noticed how the wacko leftists of the so-called environmental movement behave (and talk) as if they are members of a religion? They use religious language all the time to describe their holy mission of cleansing the earth of evil and sinful fossil energy. Check this out. Environuts say an Indiana utility company is “backsliding” on its clean energy goals with its plan to build a gas-fired peaker plant — a plant that makes unreliable renewables (like solar and wind) possible.
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Big Green Packs Hearing to Oppose Va. Chesterfield Peaker Plant

Dominion Energy, a huge utility company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, recently revived a plan to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, a Richmond suburb (see Dominion Plans to Build 1,000-MW Gas Peaker Plant Near Richmond, VA). The Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center in the James River Industrial Center calls for building four 250-megawatt gas-fired power plants (1,000 MW total) that can jump into action during the coldest and hottest days of the year to help supply enough electricity for 250,000 homes. Last Thursday, Dominion held a public hearing in Chester about the proposed plan. The usual bought-and-paid-for antis showed up to declare this project is racist and should not get built.
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Ohio Extends Time to Build 2nd Utica-Fired Elec Plant Near Toledo

In December 2017, MDN told you about a second proposed natural gas-fired power plant planned by CME Energy for Oregon (Lucas County), Ohio (see Ohio Approves 2nd Oregon Utica-Fired Elec Plant (Near Toledo)). The first plant was called the Oregon Clean Energy Center. The second plant project was named Clean Energy Future – Oregon. The second plant is bigger than the first, targeted to generate 955 megawatts of power. At that time (in 2017), CME was in the permitting process for the second plant, with plans to have it built and online in 2020. Fast forward to today. The plant was never built but is still being planned.
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RGGI Carbon Tax Price Hits Near-Record-High of $13.85 Per Ton CO2

In 2019, when then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would unilaterally force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax scheme aimed at forcing coal- and gas-fired plants out of business, he claimed the tax would only amount to a few dollars per short ton of CO2 (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). That lie was exposed early on when, in March 2021, the price per short ton for CO2 under RGGI soared to $7.60 (see RGGI Carbon Tax Hits All-Time High – Gas-Fired Plants Close). The most recent quarterly auction saw the price come within 5 cents of its all-time high: $13.85 per short ton!
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NET Power Delays World’s 1st NatGas Plant with Zero Emissions

Last December, Rice Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) started by the Rice brothers (Danny, Toby, and Derek), announced a deal to acquire NET Power — an electric power developer with revolutionary new technology to capture every last molecule of carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants (see Dan Rice Buys Co. that Builds Zero-Carbon Gas-Fired Electric Plants). The Rice deal to buy NET Power closed in early June, with Danny Rice (former CEO of Rice Energy) becoming the new CEO of NET Power (see NET Power Completes $1.5B Merger with Rice Acquisition Corp.). On Tuesday, NET Power issued its second quarterly update (for the third quarter of 2023) since becoming a publicly traded company. The news was not exactly bad, but neither was it good.
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