TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.
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 country. In July 2021, 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). Good news! TVA announced earlier this week that it would convert a second coal-fired plant, this one in East Tennessee, to a natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 1.5 gigawatts of electricity. The project also includes contracting with Enbridge to build a new 122-mile pipeline.
Read More “TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.”
Yesterday the Bidenistas at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a hellscape of new regulations aimed at forcing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to close. That’s the sum total of what’s contained in a proposed 681-page behemoth new rule released (inflicted) yesterday by the EPA. But that’s not just MDN’s wild claim about this hellscape being created by Biden. The editors of the Wall Street Journal called the new EPA regulations “An EPA Death Sentence for Fossil-Fuel Power Plants,” with the subtitle “The Biden agency’s new rule means the end of natural gas-fueled electricity.”
A laughably fake “report” just published by the University of Pennsylania (UPenn) and the far-left group Resources for the Future (RFF) makes this wild claim about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a Marcellus-killing carbon tax scheme that will shut down most coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in the state: “Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would lower Pennsylvania emissions, add to state revenues, and have little to no impact on electricity rates.” Yeah, right. UPenn/RFF are trying to sell a bridge in Brooklyn too, just in case you’re in the market to buy one.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a liberal Democrat from conservative West Virginia, is desperately trying to hold on to his job following the 2024 election. Manchin thought nobody would notice when he caved to pressure from his own party and voted to pass the devastatingly bad (and misnamed) Inflation Reduction Act (see 
In March, West Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 188, aimed at making WV’s gas-fired power generation more competitive with its neighbors in Pennsylvania and Ohio, was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice (see 
We are extremely unimpressed with New York City’s main utility company, Consolidated Edison. Con Ed supplies customers in all of New York City and Westchester County with electricity, and major portions (but not all) of NYC and Westchester with natural gas. The company has thrown in its lot (colluded with) New York’s far-left Democrats on a plan to kill off natural gas for its customers, believing it can eliminate some of its competitors. Con Ed is more than happy to build new projects, like a six-mile electric transmission line through Queens, and then pass the $275 million price to its customers to pay back. The new transmission line is meant to deliver enough extra electricity that Con Ed can shut down the gas-fired peaker plants it uses to help supply electricity on heavy usage days.
Here’s something truly noteworthy–something you need to sit up and pay attention to. Last Thursday, all four Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners–two Democrats and two Republicans–sat before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in a hearing and said the same thing. All four FERC commissioners warned the Senators that too many coal- and gas-fired power plants are retiring without enough new sources coming online to replace them. They said the situation is “catastrophic” and “the red lights are flashing.”
Even though Dominion Energy sold its interstate pipeline network in 2020 (see 
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 
Some 23 extremist so-called environmental groups from Pennsylvania (and beyond) sent a letter to federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan asking him to rachet up federal regulations to be so extreme it forces the remaining electric power plants in PA that use coal and natural gas to close down. The extremist groups include PennFuture (headed by former PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary Pat McDonnell), the so-called Clean Air Council (funded by the Haas and Heinz families), and the Philadelphia Solar Energy Association.
New York State’s chickens are finally coming home to roost. The extreme leftist politicians who run the state have assaulted the fossil energy industry for half a dozen years, maybe longer. The assault on fossil energy began under Andrew Cuomo and has continued under his successor, Kathy Hochul. Their actions are leading to electricity blackouts in New York City. Last Friday, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) released its quarterly assessment of the reliability of the bulk electric system. While the state as a whole is not (yet) in trouble, NYISO says beginning in 2025, NYC “could become deficient” in electric power. Translation: The Big (Rotten) Apple is heading for blackouts.
New research released by The Buckeye Institute models the impact that a new Clean Power Plan–which the Biden Administration is attempting to revive through the regulatory process–would have on jobs, the economy, and customers. In “The Economic Impact of a Potential New Clean Power Plan on Ohio and California” (full copy below), researchers with Buckeye’s Economic Research Center (ERC), using power usage data from government agencies in Ohio and California, found that customers in Ohio would see an increase of $810 on their electric bills per year and that customers in California would see an increase of $665 annually.
The same three radicalized environmental groups that have repeatedly attacked the $1.1 billion Renovo Energy Center (REC), a Marcellus gas-fired power plant planned for Clinton County, PA, have finally won. The Clean Air Council, PennFuture, and the Center for Biological Diversity (all completely radicalized fossil fuel bigots) have repeatedly challenged permits for REC. Last week the builder of the project, Bechtel Corp., announced it is pulling out of the project which has been in the planning stages for eight years. The reason for canceling the project is because of “the ongoing appeals from environmental groups.” What a tragedy.
Natural gas pipelines use both gas- and electric-powered compressor units. In fact, around 10% of pipeline compressor stations are powered by electricity. Electrically-powered compressor stations on natural gas transmission pipelines have been identified as a possible contributor to gas shortages because they are vulnerable to electric outages during severe weather events. It turns into a vicious cycle. Lack of electricity to the compressor means flows along the pipeline slow or stop, starving power plants of the gas they need to produce electricity. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) recently published an article (study) suggesting possible solutions to fix the issue.