Big Green Asks PA DEP to Reconsider Homer City Power Plant Permit
In April, 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.). The new gas-fired plant will be THE LARGEST gas-fired power plant in the country, capable of producing up to 4.5 gigawatts (4,500 MW) of electricity. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently said it is close to approving an air quality plan for the new facility (see PA DEP Signals Air Plan Approval for $10B Homer City Power Plant). Big Green is pressuring the DEP to reconsider and withdraw its draft approval of the air permit. Read More “Big Green Asks PA DEP to Reconsider Homer City Power Plant Permit”
The Eddystone Generating Station is a power plant owned by Constellation Energy Corporation, located in Eddystone, PA (near Philadelphia, in Delaware County). Units 3 and 4, each with 380 MW of generation capacity, can run on either natural gas or oil. The Eddystone Units were initially scheduled for retirement on May 31, 2025; however, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) intervened and ordered both units to remain online and active due to emergency energy conditions in the PJM grid. The original order kept both units online and active an extra 90 days, until August 28. DOE Secretary Chris Wright sent a new order to Constellation extending the operation of the two units for an additional 90 days, until November 26 (see 
It took over two years, but NextEra Energy finally sold its ownership interest in Meade Pipeline Co LLC to investment company Ares Management Corporation for $1.1 billion. You may recall that NextEra acquired Meade Pipeline for $1.37 billion in 2019 (see 
Last week, we told you that, although she has not publicly admitted it, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has approved the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
The fight in Marietta, OH, over DeepRock Disposal Solutions’ plan to build a fifth shale wastewater injection well is getting heated. Opposition to the well has made for some very strange bedfellows. The Republican City Council is utilizing the legal services of the radicalized Earthjustice green group to challenge a permit issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the well in Marietta, OH (see 
Our friend Bill desRosiers, Manager of Government and External Affairs at Coterra Energy, has authored an excellent article and white paper addressing the topic of how the oil and gas industry can use virtual reality (VR) to attract new blood to the industry. The oil and gas industry is facing a significant workforce challenge: nearly 400,000 U.S. energy workers are nearing retirement, while younger generations remain hesitant to enter the field. In spring 2025, Coterra partnered with Xalter to deploy a multi-state pilot VR program to prepare the next generation of energy workers. Bill draws back the curtain to discuss the company’s experience in using VR for training and to attract new talent to the company. 
In February 2016, Shell completed a $69.7 billion buyout and merger with BG, the largest such oil and gas deal since Exxon bought Mobil in 1999, driven by the company’s love of LNG (see 
For the fourth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count gained, instead of losing, rigs. Last week, the count increased by seven, to 549. The last time the count was higher was June 20. The even more exciting news is that the Ohio Utica picked up another rig, boosting the total in Ohio to 13, the highest it’s been in well over a year. Pennsylvania maintained its count of 18 active rigs, which it has maintained since July 25 (two months). West Virginia kept its seven active rigs, the same number since May 30 (four months). The combined M-U count was 38 rigs, with 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus layer and 14 targeting the Utica. 
Last week, we brought you several posts about a “summit” (a blaming and bullying session) convened by one of the biggest bullies on the political scene today, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, to complain about high electricity prices in the PJM Interconnection grid (see 
As we’ve explained multiple times, the policies of governors like Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Maura Healey (Massachusetts), and Ned Lamont (Connecticut) are the DIRECT cause of higher electricity prices. And now that prices are soaring, those governors are running away from their culpability as fast as they can, attempting to shift blame (see 
A new report from big energy data analytics firm Enverus finds that the average breakeven price for new shale wells in the United States currently sits at $70 per barrel. That’s a problem, because the sale price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude has been firmly in the $60s for months. U.S. shale drillers can’t drill new wells if they lose money. Consequently, they’re beginning to lay down the rigs and stop new drilling. But here’s the even more troubling part of the report: Enverus predicts the breakeven price will rise to around $95 per barrel within ten years. 
The mighty BP (formerly British Petroleum) is an oil and natural gas company attempting to transition into a renewable energy company. They’re failing. BP is having an identity crisis. It’s a European company and has bought into the false narrative that fossil energy is on the way out (“transitioning” to so-called renewables) due to concerns over mythical global warming. BP’s recently published Annual Energy Outlook for 2025 report (full copy below) takes a different approach from previous versions of the report. It offers two scenarios: What will happen between now and 2050 if we don’t change anything, called “Current Trajectory,” which means humans will turn Earth into a burning hell; and what will happen if the world finally gets serious about mythical global warming and commits to ensuring temperatures don’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, called “Below 2°.” 
In yet another sign that Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is a done deal and moving forward, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted the project permission to “disturb” (harass) 15 varieties of whales, seals, porpoises, and dolphins, as it builds a 24-mile pipeline on the floor of the bay. “Uh, excuse me, Mr. Whale? Could you please swim about a mile over in that direction for the next few days?” Environmentalist wackos are having a cow, or maybe it’s a whale, at the news. 
Homer City Redevelopment is transforming the former Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, into the $24 billion Homer City Energy Campus, one of the largest redevelopment projects in state history (see 
Last Thursday, MDN informed you about a public hearing scheduled for that day by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV-DEP) for the Adams Fork Energy Project in Mingo County (see