NatGas, Elec Prices in Boston, NYC Continue to Soar – Lack of Pipes
Last week MDN told you about a spike in natural gas and electric rates in New York City and New England, thanks to the cold snap and lack of natural gas pipelines into the region (see NatGas Prices in Boston, NYC Double in One Day, Electric Up 55%). Natgas spot prices at Algonquin Citygate (Boston) had spiked to $9.69/Mcf. This week the price is up again–now at $11.97! It’s the same pattern for NYC.
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Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2021.” One of the main themes of this year’s AEO is the profound impact COVID-19 has had and will continue to have on energy usage worldwide. EIA says it will likely take a decade or more for energy usage to return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
HUGE news! This morning the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the PennEast Pipeline case. The case appeals a lower court ruling that disallows PennEast from using eminent domain to build across land owned or controlled by the State of New Jersey. The court’s acceptance of the case is an excellent sign PennEast will win the case–which is important not only for PennEast but all future pipeline projects in “blue” states.
Zenith Energy, based in Houston, TX and Metuchen, NJ, announced yesterday it has purchased the bulk terminal storage operations of Guttman Energy in three locations: Aurora, Ohio, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, and Star City, West Virginia. Zenith says the reason for buying the terminals is to support customers in the Marcellus/Utica. What, exactly, is Zenith selling to M-U customers?
Virtual pipeline company Xpress Natural Gas (XNG), which operates a major compression station/trucking facility not far from MDN headquarters, has agreed to sell itself to Basalt Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm located in London and New York City. The sale price was not disclosed.
Vermont Gas is probably sorry it ever decided to build a tiny 41-mile pipeline between Chittenden and Addison counties to deliver clean-burning natural gas to Vermonters. Not only was the project hounded by anti-fossil fuel nutjobs, since going online in 2017 the project has been hounded by the State of Vermont itself! After a multi-year investigation, the state is accusing the project of multiple violations during construction and about to levy a hefty fine.
After Joe Biden signed an Executive Order in his first few days on the job killing the Keystone XL pipeline project (instantly throwing 11,000 union members of out high-paying jobs), anti-fossil fuel nuts have been salivating (drooling, actually) in anticipation of what else old dementia Joe will do next to kill off other pipeline projects, including Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). One of Big Green’s trusty mouthpieces at the AP has penned a wishlist for which projects may get the ax next, and how it will happen.
The City of Monroe, North Carolina is a shining example of what other cities should do. The city recently launched a new LNG facility online (took three years to build). The city buys natural gas on the open market when the price is low, liquefies and stores it, and then regasifies it for use later–saving residents money. Smart folks running Monroe.
On Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted its approval to Williams to begin construction on the Leidy South Project in central Pennsylvania. The purpose of the Leidy South Project, which is part of the mighty Transco pipeline, is to connect robust supplies of natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica producing regions in Pennsylvania with markets along the Atlantic Seaboard by the 2021-2022 winter heating season.
In 2016 a group of business and government leaders from Ohio and West Virginia in the Mid-Ohio Valley banded together to form an economic development group called Shale Crescent USA, or SCUSA (see 
Last week MDN brought you Part 1 of a series on the coming crisis in lack of pipeline capacity serving the Marcellus/Utica region (see 
On Friday MDN told you that EQT has partnered with a company called Project Canary (used to be Independent Energy Standards Corporation) to use the TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program to monitor two EQT gas wells to prove to the world (in particular the global warming lunatics) that EQT’s gas is good and green (see