Antis Turn to Big Green Fundraiser for Lawfare Against Homer City
In April 2025, Knighthead Capital Management, Homer City Redevelopment (HCR), and Kiewit Power Constructors Co. announced a plan to convert the former Homer City Generating Station, previously the largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania (Indiana County, 50 miles east of Pittsburgh) into a more than 3,200-acre natural gas-powered data center campus, designed to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (see Largest Gas-Fired Power Plant in the U.S. Coming in Western Pa.). When completed and online, the planned 4.5 GW power plant will use roughly 790 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica gas. The project, now under construction, is already transforming the local economy (see Homer City Economic Boom Now Under Way from Data Center Project). Yet antis are *still* trying to use lawfare to block it. Read More “Antis Turn to Big Green Fundraiser for Lawfare Against Homer City”
Last November, New Jersey (and New York) issued a federal Clean Water Act permit to build the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
A new wrinkle to report in the case of a South Carolina pipeline, the Elba Express Pipeline, and its quest to build an extension to a gas-fired power plant in Colleton County. In June, we told you that Kinder Morgan, the builder, had been forced to sue some 55 (of the 185) landowners along the proposed route to allow simple access to their property for a survey (see 
Last year, we reported on a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision issued in the case of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Game Commission v. Thomas E. Proctor Heirs Trust (see 
An important (precedential) court ruling to alert Pennsylvania surface (and mineral rights) owners to. The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled earlier this month that an oil-and-gas mineral rights owner does not have an automatic, unrestricted right to place a well on a separately owned surface estate. When the deed or lease contains no express surface-access right, the mineral owner must establish that using that surface is “strictly necessary”—not merely reasonable—to reach and develop the underlying oil and gas. The case in question concerns land in Westmoreland County but will almost certainly apply to other locations as well. 
Over the past two weeks, just prior to heading out on summer vacation, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of extremely important decisions. One of them was Slaughter v. Trump, a 6-3 decision in which the Supremes overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey’s Executor precedent, granting the president broad authority to remove members of independent federal agencies for any reason. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president must have trusted subordinates to ensure accountability, though the Court exempted the Federal Reserve to preserve its independence. This ruling permanently solidifies President Trump’s earlier removals of Democratic appointees, significantly expanding executive control over critical regulatory bodies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Trade Commission, and most importantly for MDN readers, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). 
All we can say is, get the heck out of New York while you still can. Sooner or later, property values in the “Empire” State will crash. (Probably sooner rather than later.) Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2nd Circuit) ruled in support of New York State banning natural gas from being used in new home (and business) construction across the entire state. If it stands, it is the beginning of the end for NY. The end will eventually come when Wall Street firms finally give up and move from New York City to Texas or Florida, completely bankrupting the state from lost revenues. 
We have an update on the lawsuit to overturn New York’s laws that ban shale fracking. In April, a father and son who own mineral rights for a 164-acre tract in Delaware County, NY, filed a lawsuit (with the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation) against New York for “taking” their rights to profit from fracking their minerals (see 
In mid-April, MDN brought you the great news that a major lawsuit had been filed against New York State, alleging a “taking” of private property by the state through its ban on fracking (see 
Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE) is a 55-mile, 42-inch-wide pipeline that will run through Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson counties in North Carolina. It will provide natural gas to Duke Energy customers. Big Green sued to overturn a federal water quality permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Big Green wanted the court to block construction until the full case could be heard. In May, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) rejected arguments Big Green put forward that claimed the Army Corps’ decision was “arbitrary and capricious” and refused to block construction (see 
Honestly, this story is likely to spike your blood pressure the way it did ours. Breathe in, breathe out. Find your calm, center space. OK. Now you’re ready to hear about it. Foreign companies and billionaires are funneling money to American NGOs and law firms that use the money to attack (in court) fossil energy companies. If a lawsuit prevails and either a settlement or a judgment is entered, the foreigners who helped finance it receive a cut of the “profits” from the settlement. And they don’t pay taxes on their so-called profits! IT IS DISGUSTING and an outright attack on our country. AND IT MUST STOP. NOW. A group of 21 energy-related organizations has sent a letter to both the U.S. House and Senate, outlining a loophole in our laws that allows this immoral practice and urging them to fix it. Pronto. 
In February, MDN told you about the Kriley v. XTO Energy lawsuit (see