Offshore Wind Expert Admits NY Won’t Grow Without Natural Gas
We spotted an op-ed appearing in the Lower Hudson Valley area of New York State (just north of New York City) that makes some great points. Frankly, they are points we’ve made here on MDN a number of times—how natural gas is critical to the Empire State. The op-ed points out that natural gas powers 60% of the homes in the state and powers over half of the state’s electricity generation. Yet the dunderheaded politicians (Democrats) in Albany insist on destroying fossil energy and replacing it with unreliable renewables. But we digress. The op-ed states that “New York will not grow without natural gas. It’s just that simple.” What’s so unusual (“man bites dog”) about this op-ed is that it was written by the Chairman and President of the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC)! Read More “Offshore Wind Expert Admits NY Won’t Grow Without Natural Gas”
Sometimes, some of the best news can be learned from your political enemies. The wackadoodle environmental left worldwide has, for years, tried to pressure Big Banks into defunding (refusing to loan to) fossil energy companies. While there are other sources of funding available, getting Big Banks to refuse loans has hurt the oil and gas industry. And for a while, it seemed like the left was winning, pressuring banks to pull back. Not anymore. An arrogant coalition of eight green groups, coordinated by the Rainforest Action Network, recently published a report showing that the world’s largest banks boosted the amount of financing given to fossil fuel companies last year (2024), committing $869 billion to those involved in coal, oil, and gas. That’s up significantly, from $162 billion spent the year before (2023). 
Olympus Energy wants to drill six wells on a single pad in rural Elizabeth Township, a borough in Allegheny County, on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The pad would sit about 2,400 feet (nearly half a mile) away from Elizabeth Forward High School. Some parents of students and members of the administration pushed back against Olympus’ drilling plan, using the children as an excuse (see 
Following President Trump’s quid pro quo deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul in which Trump is allowing a $5 billion offshore wind project to proceed in return for Hochul allowing two Williams gas pipeline projects, Williams has restarted one of the two projects, the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project (see 
Pennsylvania’s community colleges stand to be big winners in the data center sweepstakes. In January, MDN brought you the news that TECfusions, based in Tampa, Florida, had purchased 1,395 acres in Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County), PA, for a groundbreaking data center project called TECfusions Keystone Connect (see 
We’ve reported, with some excitement, the recent news about a host of new AI data centers coming to the Keystone State (Pennsylvania), including several large projects in southwestern PA and Amazon’s big announcement last week about spending $20 billion on at least three data centers in the eastern part of the state (see 
MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was blocking at least three (possibly more) cargoes of ethane by rejecting permits to export to Enterprise Products Partners (see 
During EQT Corporation’s third quarter 2023 update and conference call (held in October 2023), the company announced “two of the largest, long-term physical supply deals ever executed” for 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of EQT’s molecules. Those molecules will flow on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) beginning in 2027 (see 
In April, MDN told you that the West Virginia Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments in two important oil and gas royalty cases (see 
In October of last year, MDN told you that both EQT Corporation and Tenaska are “dipping their toes” in the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) space (see 
Penneco Environmental Solutions wants to build a second wastewater injection well in Plum Borough (Allegheny County), PA, next to an existing injection well. Penneco’s first wastewater injection well in Plum finally opened for business in mid-2021, overcoming all sorts of smears, slanders, and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators, Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, and John Fetterman, D-Braddock, have introduced Senate Bill 2044, which would move the federal Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) to Pittsburgh. It’s not an insignificant move. The DOE FECM employs approximately 750 federal employees, including scientists, engineers, technicians, and administrative staff. The federal government already employs around 20,000 people in the Pittsburgh region. This would add to that number. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and its Regional Entities recently issued a report reviewing how the country’s Bulk-Power System performed well during successive cold weather events in January 2025. The report found that the system was a stellar performer, with no significant issues in either the natural gas or electric systems. The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) was called out for its “crucial role” in helping to keep the lights on throughout the Atlantic Coast region during the coldest parts of winter. 
According to a former New Jersey Board of Public Utilities commissioner who was first appointed by Republican Gov. Chris Christie and later reappointed by Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey’s energy policy has “gone off the rails” due to the lack of fact-based planning. The former commissioner, Mary-Anna Holden, should know. She’s someone with a front-row seat to the state’s energy operations. In an op-ed, Holden says ratepayers in the Garden State are paying sky-high electricity prices due to an over-reliance on intermittent (unreliable) renewable energy sources, including solar and wind.