More on Yellow Smoke Coming from Gas-Fired Plant Near Scranton
We spoke too soon. In a story MDN published yesterday, we said that Big Green propagandist mouthpiece PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania was the only “news” outlet reporting on “yellow smoke” released as part of the commissioning process for the Lackawanna Energy Center, a Marcellus gas-fired electric plant being built near Scranton (see Gas-Fired Power Plant Near Scranton Nears Startup; Yellow Smoke). We said yesterday that not even the Democrat-controlled Scranton Times-Tribune found the “yellow smoke” report newsworthy. A day later, the Times-Tribune was shamed into releasing a story about it. Once again, the only people quoted as experiencing ill health effects following the “yellow smoke” are long-time local activists, people who oppose the project…
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Last September none other than West Virginia’s Secretary of Commerce, Woody Thrasher, admitted publicly that his beloved state is decidedly unfriendly to new natgas-fired electric plant projects (see 
Something momentous has just happened. The loons at the Sierra Club, who once loved natural gas until they began irrationally hating it, have just admitted to the world that burning natural gas to produce electricity is A.O.K. with them. Brunner Island Power Plant is located in York County, PA, straddling Lancaster County. It is a huge, 1,490 megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant, and has been the target of environmentalists for years. In February 2017, MDN told you that the new owner of the plant is investing $100 million to retrofit the plant so it can, at least part of the time, burn Marcellus Shale gas (see 
In October 2016, Indeck Energy announced a plan to build a $1 billion electric generating plant (powered by natural gas) in Niles, Michigan, not far from Chicago (see 
Last June, the West Virginia Public Service Commission held a public hearing in Clarksburg, WV on the proposed ESC Harrison County Power Plant project (see 
It doesn’t happen often, but we’re speechless. We’ve lived under the apparent illusion that as stupid and insane as liberal leftist environmentalism is, that deep down underneath there’s still at least a small sliver of pragmatic truth that lives. Example: Even though NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo has banned fracking, and blocks natural gas pipelines from getting built (bowing to pressure from the enviro left), at least Cuomo is on board with building a tiny natgas-fired electric generating plant in the heart of Albany, to power the bloated government complex that exists (see 
This is a somewhat personal story that perfectly illustrates the point we’ve been making for years. MDN editor Jim Willis lives with his wife and family in the Binghamton, NY area. Jim likes to say he “lives behind enemy lines”–meaning New York State under Andrew Cuomo and his radical left base are hostile to the fossil fuel industry. The cost of Cuomo’s actions for every New Yorker (at least those of us living in Upstate) is now on full display for all to see. A few weeks ago Jim got his monthly electric bill from New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG, owned by the Spanish company Iberdrola). Jim’s eyes about fell out of their sockets. Jim largely uses electricity for heating (with a fuel oil furnace as backup). No natural gas lines where Jim lives, unfortunately. Even in the dead of winter Jim’s electric bill is rarely over $200 in any given month–typically around $150. This time? Nearly $700!!!! At first, Jim chalked it up to the cold snap and the constant running of his electric heat source. Then he spotted an article (below, sent to us by Vic Furman), that shows Jim is not the only one. Across the entire region folks received bills that are double and triple the usual amount. Why the spike in price? It seems the lack of natural gas via pipelines is not only hurting New England, it’s now hurting Upstate NY. Due to a lack of natgas supplies and the huge regional demand for natgas–for home heating as well as for electric generators–the spot price for gas went through the roof and along with it NYSEG’s cost for both natgas and electricity generated by natgas also went through the roof. Consequently, Cuomo’s frack ban and (now) pipeline ban on importing natgas from PA are having very real, tangible consequences–in our electric bills. All of Cuomo’s precious renewable sources of energy will not, indeed cannot, make up for a lack of natgas. Cuomo’s stupidity is costing ME real money…
Invenergy is currently building the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,480 megawatt plant in Jessup, PA (near Scranton) that will cost “well over $1 billion” according to an exclusive MDN source working on the project. When the plant is done (first phase ready sometime this month), and when it goes online (to be determined), it will be Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating plant. Unfortunately, a group of Democrats got themselves elected to the Jessup Borough Council specifically to try and block the completion of the project (see 
How often do we have to repeat the warning that electrical blackouts are coming to New England if the region does not get new sources of natural gas by building more pipelines? This is not some reckless, wild eyed blogger guy saying it–the warning comes from the top, from the people who operate the electric grid! We first raised the warning back in 2014 (see