PA PIPE Grant Expands NatGas to 131 Susquehanna Co. Homes & Biz’s

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) grants cover part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of these grants over the years (see our stories here). Last week, PA’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announced another PIPE grant, this one going to a community in Susquehanna County, PA—the state’s most productive natural gas producing county. Read More “PA PIPE Grant Expands NatGas to 131 Susquehanna Co. Homes & Biz’s”

The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its dysfunctional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use requests for responsible, safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the May 23rd Pennsylvania Bulletin that the SRBC approved and/or renewed 33 general water use permits in April for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) has officially broken ground on Liberty Station, a $500 million natural gas-fired power plant located in Casey County, Kentucky. Expected to be operational in late 2028, this project represents the cooperative’s first new greenfield power plant since the 1980s. The facility will use twelve large generators to produce electricity for approximately 95,000 homes (214 megawatts), significantly improving grid reliability for over 1 million customers across 89 counties. Running primarily on natural gas with ultra-low-sulfur diesel backup, the station will create over 20 high-paying, full-time jobs and deliver clean and reliable energy to rural residents. 
Well, you knew this was going to happen. Last week, a group of disgusting Big Green groups and the New York State Attorney General both filed separate lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2nd Circuit), challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) decision to resurrect the Constitution Pipeline under the existing (but dormant) docket. NY AG Tish James, representing the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), argues that a brand new review should be done by the state to evaluate the project for compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. You may recall that NY previously lost its right to evaluate the Constitution project by stretching out its review for years, causing FERC to overrule NY (see
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order on May 21 directing PJM Interconnection and Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 at Pennsylvania’s Eddystone Generating Station (near Philadelphia, in Delaware County) operational through the summer. Effective from May 25, 2026, to August 22, 2026, the mandate aims to ensure grid reliability. This directive follows four previous 90-day orders that have kept the aging, dual-fuel units online to support energy security. The DOE asserts that despite planned retirements, these 380-MW units remain essential for stabilizing the regional power supply. Big Green wants to close them down.
Last Thursday (May 21), the commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously proposed significant changes to the agency’s natural gas blanket certificate program, the most substantial overhaul since 2006. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) aims to roughly double the cost thresholds for pipeline companies to build and modify infrastructure without extensive case-by-case approval. It also expands eligible project categories and, for the first time, extends streamlined authorization to certain LNG facility activities. 
Yesterday, MDN told you that Enbridge has launched an open season for customers to sign up for capacity along an expanded Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline in New England (see
U.S. natural gas flows to LNG export facilities were set to hit a 16-week low of 15.1 Bcf/d on Tuesday, May 19, despite the anticipated return of QatarEnergy/ExxonMobil’s Golden Pass plant in Texas, according to LSEG data. Average flows dropped from a record 18.8 Bcf/d in April to 16.9 Bcf/d in May due to spring maintenance at multiple facilities, including Golden Pass and Freeport LNG.
NextEra Energy, headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida, is gobbling up companies left and right. Earlier this week, NextEra announced it is buying out and merging with a fellow utility giant, Dominion Energy (see
In the Middle Ages, the Catholic church would happily sell you forgiveness of sins (if you paid), meaning you could keep right on sinning, as long as you could pay. It was called an indulgence. The modern environmental movement is doing the same thing. Big Green is all about Big Money. The scam they run is to convince people that planting a tree, not cutting down a tree, or maybe capturing a little bit of methane seeping out of a landfill, can make up for continuing to use (burn) natural gas. Georgia Natural Gas (GNG) is offering this scam to its customers. Why would anyone willingly pay more for the same thing? Just to feel better about themselves? Apparently so, because 100,000 GNG customers are doing it.
Last week, the news broke that Enbridge is exploring a major expansion of its Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline into New England, and had briefed the Trump administration’s National Energy Dominance Council about its plans (see
On March 18, President Trump issued a 60-day waiver pausing the enforcement of the Jones Act (see
On May 14, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a notice of violation to Sandstone Development LLC for operating the McKay 7A conventional well as an oil and gas wastewater injection disposal site in McKean County without a state permit. Which may sound like a major, flagrant (intentional) violation. But it’s not. Sandstone holds a federal EPA permit allowing daily injections of up to 10,500 gallons. Sandstone said it was unaware that, in addition to the federal EPA permit, it is also required to seek and obtain a state DEP permit for the same thing. In other words, Sandstone didn’t ask DEP, “Mother, May I?”