Electrical Generation

  • | |

    NJ Town Ready to Approve Meadowlands Marcellus-Fired Power Plant

    MDN reported two weeks ago that a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi wants to build a huge, new $1.5 billion natural gas-fired electric generating plant in the Meadowlands (New Jersey), just outside of New York City (see Marcellus Electric Plant Proposed for Meadowlands to Power NYC). The North Bergen Liberty Generating Project, at 1,200 megawatts, will help replace some of the electricity lost when the Indian Point Nuclear plant located in New York along the Hudson River closes down in 2021. We suspect that since the mighty Transco pipeline, which flows mostly Marcellus molecules in the northeast, will feed the Meadowlands project, this plant will become an important new market for PA Marcellus production. Of course the plant is being opposed by radicals in the nutty Sierra Club and other Big Green groups who despise all fossil fuels and demand that you and I end our use of fossil fuels to make them feel better about themselves. Fortunately the town where the plant will be located, North Bergen, has rational adults leading it. North Bergen officials are jazzed about the plant and by all indications will soon vote to approve it…
    Read More “NJ Town Ready to Approve Meadowlands Marcellus-Fired Power Plant”

  • | |

    Central Illinois Gas-Fired Power Plant One Step Closer to Reality

    EmberClear Pawnee proposed plant site – click for larger version

    Last June MDN reported that EmberClear, based in Houston, TX, wants to build a $1 billion, 1,100 megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired plant about 15 miles from Springfield, Illinois, in Pawnee (see NatGas and Coal Go to War in Central Illinois). The City of Springfield’s City Water, Light and Power (CWLP) owns and operates a 550-MW coal-fired generating system. According to the state’s coal industry, a new gas-fired plant would rob CWLP’s plant of business, costing jobs and money. However, it appears the city and CWLP doesn’t view the proposed gas-fired plant as a threat. City alderman have just approved a deal for the new Pawnee plant to purchase “at least” 80,000 gallons of water per day from CWLP for a cool $29,000 per month. The water is a critical component in operating the plant. No water, no plant. This is just the latest indicator that Springfield is on board with the plant. Last May the city approved stretching the boundaries of the Springfield-Sangamon Enterprise Zone, to give the Pawnee project millions in tax savings. Here’s the latest news–that the Pawnee project has just taken another big step closer to the start of construction by striking a deal with CWLP…
    Read More “Central Illinois Gas-Fired Power Plant One Step Closer to Reality”

  • | | |

    NEPA Hospital Building Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant

    Concept drawing for Geisinger’s $18 million Central Utility Plant

    A hospital in Wilkes-Barre, PA–the Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center–has begun work on building a new $18 million Marcellus gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant. The new plant will cut the hospital’s energy consumption by 40% and save it around $1.5 million in energy costs annually. Cool! This is not the first time we’ve written about the trend among PA hospitals to build their own mini power plants, powered by natural gas. Last time we checked, in November, there were a dozen hospitals across the Keystone State that use CHP technology (see Lancaster Hospital Produces Its Own Electricity Using Marcellus Gas). Hospitals are not the only organizations that use CHP–universities, manufacturing plants and others use CHP too (see Website Connects Lenders/Borrows for Combined Heat & Power Projects). Here’s the news about the newest PA hospital to use CHP–an important new market for PA’s abundant, clean-burning Marcellus gas…
    Read More “NEPA Hospital Building Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant”

  • | | | |

    Will New WV Exec Order Speed Up Gas-Fired Power Plant Projects?

    WV Gov. Jim Justice

    Yesterday West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice issued a new Executive Order (EO)–the third of his tenure thus far. The new EO cuts through regulatory red tape and instructs all WV governmental departments that issue permits to prioritize “permits for projects of critical economic concern.” That would include permits for Marcellus/Utica Shale projects. The EO requires agencies to issue written reports to the permit applicant, the executive director of the state Development Office, and to the Governor, explaining why they haven’t gotten off their rear-ends and acted on a given critical permit. As we read about this interesting development, it immediately struck us that we hope the EO also affects the permitting process for new natural gas-fired electric plants. Last September WV Secretary of Commerce, Woody Thrasher, admitted publicly that his beloved state is unfriendly to new natgas-fired electric plant projects (see WV Sec Commerce Says State Unfriendly to Gas-Fired Power Plants). In a speech before state legislators, Thrasher said while Ohio has built 19 new gas-fired power plants, and Pennsylvania has built 22 new gas-fired power plants, WV has built NONE. Zero. Nada. Even though perhaps a dozen such projects have been proposed. The first sliver of light in that respect came in February of this year when finally the very first such project in WV was approved by the Public Service Commission (see Brooke County WV Power Plant Wins State Approval). So when we read about the new EO signed by Justice, our thoughts didn’t jump to permits for shale wells, our thoughts turned to permits stalled for new electric power plant projects–which use Marcellus/Utica shale gas…
    Read More “Will New WV Exec Order Speed Up Gas-Fired Power Plant Projects?”

  • | | | |

    Lordstown, OH Power Plant Investor Tries to Block 2nd Plant

    Be careful who you sell your energy projects to. That’s the lesson we take away from a spat that’s developed in Trumbull County, OH over a proposed second Utica gas-fired electric plant in Lordstown. Clean Energy Future (CEF) is currently building the Lordstown Energy Center, and has been since June 2016 (see Lordstown Energy Center Breaks Ground on $890M Electric Plant). CEF then proposed, and got the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) to approve, plans to build a second Utica-fired plant next door to the first (see Ohio Approves 2 Utica-Fired Power Plants in Guernsey, Trumbull Counties). As is typically the case, CEF (the builder) sold most of the first project to investors. In this case the new majority owner for the first power plant is Macquarie, an international equity firm. CEF sued Macquarie in September saying the company is preventing CEF from building the second plant. Macquarie says if a second plant gets built in the same location, the first plant (now owned by Macquarie) will take a $6.7 million hit on earnings each year. Macquarie wants CEF to pay them that amount annually when/if the second plant gets built. To which CEF says, “They’re looking for an extortion payment.” CEF is threatening to sue Macquarie for $100 million for delaying construction. A judge will now decide if construction can proceed and whether or not CEF will need to make annual payments to Macquarie…
    Read More “Lordstown, OH Power Plant Investor Tries to Block 2nd Plant”

  • | | | | | | |

    Michigan Anti Fossil Fuelers Oppose DTE Gas-Fired Plant Proposal

    (PRNewsfoto/DTE Energy)

    Last June DTE Energy filed paperwork in Michigan to build a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas-fired power plant in St. Clair County (see DTE Energy Files to Build New Natgas-Fired Elec Plant in Michigan). The gas-fired plant will produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 850,000 homes. If all goes according to plan, the new $1 billion plant will go online in 2022, helping to offset three coal-fired plants set to be retired by 2023. The process is long to approve and then build such a project, with many hoops to jump through. The first major hurdle, perhaps THE major hurdle, is an approval by Michigan utility regulators. The deadline for that approval is almost here–April 27. With the deadline looming, Big Green, with its ongoing, irrational hatred of all fossil fuels, has ramped up opposition to the project. An approval by regulators is being complicated by the fact that DTE filed two months after new energy laws went into effect, but before the Public Service Commission finalized its guidelines under those new laws, in December. Apparently there’s an issue with the application as it relates to the December guidelines–an issue that would potentially delay the project another year or more…
    Read More “Michigan Anti Fossil Fuelers Oppose DTE Gas-Fired Plant Proposal”

  • | | |

    Marcellus Electric Plant Proposed for Meadowlands to Power NYC

    The red line shows the border of the proposed power plant in North Bergen. The yellow line is a transmission cable to ConEd’s substation on West 49th St. in New York City. Click for larger version.

    A subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi wants to build a huge, new $1.5 billion natural gas-fired electric generating plant in the Meadowlands (New Jersey), just outside of New York City. The North Bergen Liberty Generating Project, at 1,200 megawatts, will help replace the electricity lost when the Indian Point Nuclear plant closes down in 2021. Indian Point provides roughly 25% of NYC’s electricity. Something has to replace that big hole in the power grid. You can’t build solar panels and windmills fast enough (not to mention the sun doesn’t always shine nor does the wind always blow). Natural gas will save the day in NYC–and the North Bergen plant will go a long way toward helping. Of course the plant is being opposed by radicals in the nutty Sierra Club and other Big Green groups who despise all fossil fuels and demand that you and I end our use of fossil fuels because they irrationally hate them. Meanwhile, the adults in the room continue to advance plans to replace Indian Point with projects like this one and the CPV Valley Energy Project in Orange County. No, Marcellus gas is not specifically mentioned as powering North Bergen Project, but since the plant will be hooked up to the mighty Williams Transco Pipeline, a pipeline which flows mostly Marcellus molecules these days, at least in the northeast, it’s a safe bet the plant will be powered almost exclusively by PA fracked Marcellus gas…
    Read More “Marcellus Electric Plant Proposed for Meadowlands to Power NYC”

  • | | | | |

    Big Green Begs NY DEC to Revoke Orange Co. Power Plant Permits

    As the Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) $900 million Valley Energy Center natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Orange County, NY gets ready to begin service THIS MONTH, antis, including Big Green group Riverkeeper, are desperate to stop it from entering service. Since they couldn’t win any lawsuits to stop it, and since they couldn’t convince the federal government (FERC) to stop it, Riverkeeper and some politicians in Riverkeeper’s back pocket (via campaign contributions) have turned their attention to the Andrew Cuomo-corrupted Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), hoping they can convince the corrupt DEC to revoke the permits issued for the plant. On what basis does Riverkeeper and their colluding politicians claim the permits should be revoked? On the basis that a CPV lobbyist paid money to Cuomo’s closest confidante and aide as a bribe to get the project approved. There’s no evidence that the project got approved because of the bribe, but the stench is certainly there, and hey, if corrupt bribes got it approved, maybe corrupt politicians colluding with Big Green can get it unapproved, right?…
    Read More “Big Green Begs NY DEC to Revoke Orange Co. Power Plant Permits”

  • | | |

    Tenaska Gas-Fired SWPA Elec Plant Fully Staffed, Online in Dec

    Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station

    In August 2016, energy giant Tenaska (headquartered in Omaha, NE) broke ground to build a 925-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant in Westmoreland County, PA (see Groundbreaking for Tenaska Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant in SWPA). The Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station is costing $780 million to build. It has taken some 600 people to build the plant, which is on track to be completed and online by December of this year. When the plant fires up, it will provide power for 925,000 homes. An update on this important project: All of the permanent jobs to operate the completed plant are now hired. Some 75% of the new hires are local to the Westmoreland County area…
    Read More “Tenaska Gas-Fired SWPA Elec Plant Fully Staffed, Online in Dec”

  • | | |

    Duke Energy SC Gas-Fired Plant Starts Up – Marcellus Connection?

    W.S. Lee combined cycle gas-fired plant – click for larger version

    We spotted news from Duke Energy that the company has begun operations at a brand new natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Anderson County, South Carolina. The W.S. Lee Station is a 750-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant that began serving customers on April 5. Duke began construction of the $700 million plant in 2015. It sits on the same site as two former coal plants that were shuttered in 2014. A third coal plant at the site was previously converted to burn natgas. Why do we care about a new electric plant launching in SC? Because it’s fed by natural gas, and we believe at least some of (perhaps most of) the gas feeding it comes from the Marcellus/Utica region. According to Duke’s press release, “The unit receives natural gas through a new dedicated pipeline that branches off the transcontinental mainline.” We’re pretty sure they’re referring to the Williams-owned Tranco (Transcontinental) Pipeline that crosses through Anderson County. Transco is the pipeline feeding the new power plant. Transco is bidirectional and increasingly carries Marcellus molecules south–some molecules all the way to the Gulf Coast (see Is Marcellus/Utica Gas Getting Exported from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass?). It stands to reason that it is Marcellus gas feeding, at least in part, this new plant located in Dixie…
    Read More “Duke Energy SC Gas-Fired Plant Starts Up – Marcellus Connection?”

  • | | | | |

    Marcellus-Fired Panda Hummel Electric Plant Roars to Life in PA

    It takes a long time to build a natural gas-fired electric power plant–especially a big one. We began writing about one of the largest coal-to-gas conversion projects in the country, happening in the heart of PA Marcellus country, back in February 2014 (see Panda Power Building 3rd Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant in PA). Panda Power Funds, a private equity firm located in Dallas, TX announced a partnership with Sunbury Generation to build a whopping 1,124-megawatt Marcellus gas-fired electric plant on the site of a retired coal-fired plant near Shamokin Dam in Snyder County, PA. Final testing is now underway at the facility, which was supposed to go online in February but is now scheduled to begin operations in May. Here’s an inside look at the complicated process of bringing a new power plant online…
    Read More “Marcellus-Fired Panda Hummel Electric Plant Roars to Life in PA”

  • | | | |

    Lansing, MI Approves Borrowing $500M for Gas-Fired Electric Plant

    In December MDN brought you the news that the Lansing, Michigan Board of Water & Light (BWL) wants to build a brand new $500 million natural gas-fired power plant (see Lansing, MI to Build New 250 MW Gas-Fired Electric Plant). The new plant will generate 250 megawatts of electricity, create 1,200 construction jobs, and go online in 2021. It will replace (and retire) two BWL coal-fired plants. Out with old, in with the new. We’re interested in the project because it is a potential new demand source for Marcellus/Utica Shale gas. On Tuesday, BWL voted, unanimously, to approve borrowing up to $500 million to construct the project. They did so over the objections of a group of fossil fuel haters who apparently would rather sit in the dark rather than build a plant that uses a dreaded fossil fuel. BWL board members had to put up with the usual fossil fuel speechifying, and then proceeded to move forward like the adults they are, over the objections of the petulant children present…
    Read More “Lansing, MI Approves Borrowing $500M for Gas-Fired Electric Plant”

  • | | | | |

    Antis Mad at DEP re Yellow Smoke at Gas-Fired Plant Near Scranton

    Antis in the Scranton suburb of Jessup just won’t leave it alone. They’re mad they can’t stop what will be the state’s largest natural gas-fired electric plant (fed by Marcellus gas) from coming online–and they’ve turned their anger on the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). As we reported two weeks ago, a puff of yellow “smoke” (more like vapor) was seen coming from the plant for a brief period of time and it sent antis into an apoplectic shock (see Gas-Fired Power Plant Near Scranton Nears Startup; Yellow Smoke and More on Yellow Smoke Coming from Gas-Fired Plant Near Scranton). According to Invenergy, the builder of the 1,480-megawatt Lackawanna Energy Center in Jessup, there were “no chemicals” involved in the yellow smoke. The only people reporting ill health affects from the yellow smoke were antis. Nobody else seems to have been affected by it. Maybe Invenergy secretly put something in the smoke that only affects antis? Inquiring minds want to know. Apparently the DEP isn’t inquiring fast enough nor deep enough for Jessup antis, who have their knickers in a twist…
    Read More “Antis Mad at DEP re Yellow Smoke at Gas-Fired Plant Near Scranton”

  • | | | | |

    Antis Use Corruption Trial Verdict to Challenge NY Gas Power Plant

    In September 2016, MDN brought you the sad news that the former head of external affairs and government relations for Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), Peter Kelly, was indicted for bribing New York Gov. Cuomo’s long-time top aide Joseph Percoco to get state approvals for CPV’s $900 million Valley Energy Center natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Orange County, NY (see NY NatGas-Fired Electric Plant an Inside Job for Corrupt Cuomo Aide). Both Kelly and Percoco, along with a third person, Todd Howe (lobbyist who used to work for Cuomo) were indicted. The trial was recently held and a few weeks ago the verdicts came in: Both Percoco and Howe, the people close to Cuomo, were convicted. The jury could not decide on CPV’s Kelly–so Kelly skated. While the entire sordid affair is interesting for those of us who smell the foul stench of corruption that surrounds Andrew Cuomo, and while the trial and its result is interesting to MDN because of the gas-fired CPV project in Orange County, the reason we’re bringing it to your attention is because antis are using the Percoco/Howe convictions in the case to try and shut down the now-completed CPV Valley Energy Center project, claiming the plant would have never been approved without bribes and corruption…
    Read More “Antis Use Corruption Trial Verdict to Challenge NY Gas Power Plant”

  • | | | | | | | |

    Court Rejects NY DEC Attempt to Stop Short Power Plant Pipeline

    Valley Lateral Pipeline map – click for larger version

    The Andrew Cuomo-corrupted New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is now out of options in its quest to block a tiny, 7.8-mile pipeline that would connect the Millennium Pipeline to a gas-fired electric generating plant under construction in Orange County, NY. Yesterday the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied a petition by the DEC asking the court to vacate two orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) allowing the pipeline to continue construction. Which means construction on the pipeline has restarted and will almost certainly be completed within a month. The plant the pipeline will feed, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Valley Energy Center, is wrapping up construction. Recently antis had a cow when they saw steam coming from the plant, part of the commissioning process (see Antis Apoplectic at Sight of Steam Coming from NY Power Plant). Before the new plant can go online, it needs fuel, which is why the Millennium project is so important. Now that the 2nd Circuit has rejected its petition, the DEC says it is still “reviewing its options” with respect to “next steps.” Frankly, there are no options and no next steps. The Cuomo-corrupted DEC has lost…
    Read More “Court Rejects NY DEC Attempt to Stop Short Power Plant Pipeline”

  • | | |

    Pittsburgh Airport Plans NatGas Microgrid to Attract New Business

    Seems like we increasingly see the word “microgrid” popping up. What, exactly, is a microgrid? Microgrids are small electric generating plants, most often powered by natural gas. They usually produce a few megawatts of electricity and are often used for “peaking”–which means they are used during times of high electricity demand. During times of high demand these small microgrids kick on and produce electricity to help meet the demand (see One of Nation’s Largest NatGas Microgrids Coming to Philly Navy Yard). Sometimes microgrids outright replace reliance on the local electric utility. Such is what is being proposed for the Pittsburgh International Airport. You may recall that CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) drilled a bunch of wells on Airport property and produces a boatload of natgas every day. The plan is to use some of that gas to power a microgrid to lower the cost of electricity at the airport complex–a complex where officials are attempting to attract businesses to locate. Having super cheap electricity generated by your own natgas helps…
    Read More “Pittsburgh Airport Plans NatGas Microgrid to Attract New Business”