Ithaca Power Plant Tries Once Again to Convert from Coal to Gas
In 2013 so-called environmentalists protested, agitated and lobbied to prevent an electrical generating power plant in Tompkins County, near Ithaca, NY, to switch from burning coal to burning natural gas–because they’re afraid it will mean more fracking (see NY Eco Group Protest to Stop Plant Converting from Coal to NatGas). The owner of the plant, Cayuga Operating Co., ended up selling it two years ago. The new owner, Riesling Power, tried to continue to get approval for converting the coal-fired plant to burn natural gas (not only cleaner, but also cheaper). Ultimately, the Cuomo-controlled Public Service Commission (PSC) turned down the request to convert. So the new owner kept operating it as a coal-fired plant–belching out far more pollution than a natgas plant would. Congratulations idiot fractivists (including obtuse Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, who wanted the plant closed). They screwed themselves and all of their neighbors too. But what’s this? Riesling Power has just filed another application to close the coal-fired plant, and reopen it as a gas-fired plant. But instead of using pipelines to feed the gas-fired plant, they will use compressed natural gas (CNG), trucked in. Which has set off the local crazies once again, spewing fossil fuel hatred and talking about “bomb trucks” visiting the area. Incredibly, the antis would rather keep a nasty coal-fired plant operating than switch to natural gas. Clinically insane…
Read More “Ithaca Power Plant Tries Once Again to Convert from Coal to Gas”
At a big ceremony in 2015, none other than Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo joined the CEO of Invenergy to announce the Clear River Energy Center–a 900-1,000 megawatt electric generating plant that runs on natural gas (see 
There is nothing “bipartisan” about Tom Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania. He’s a hard-left partisan all the way. Yet this year, for the first time since taking office, he signed a “bipartisan” budget on time–before the June 30 deadline. Wolf practically genuflected before the Republicans who control both the House and Senate in PA. This is the first budget Wolf has signed at all. The previous three annual budgets adopted during Wolf’s tenure were done so without his signature. So why did Wolf practically fall over himself to sign a budget that does NOT include a new severance tax, as he has requested each year since taking office? Simple: He’s running for reelection and wants to appear as if he’s actually governing. He’s attempting to smear a little lipstick on the pig of his awful tenure in office. Question is, will it work? Do people have the attention spans of gnats? Or will they remember the pain and suffering he inflicted by dragging out previous budgets for months? Pennsylvanians should understand that Wolf’s nicey-nice with the budget this year will completely evaporate next year (if he’s reelected). Back will be the hard-left partisan who lives under the lipstick…
Yet another wild, totally false “study” has been published by Duke University and University of Missouri researchers that finds when you pump rats full of chemicals, some of which may (or may not) be used in fracking, dosing the rats at many multiples of times more that any human would ever be exposed to, it makes the rats gain weight. And voila, a new meme in mainstream faux media is born: fracking makes you fat. How do “researchers” actually get jobs after publishing this kind of garbage? Who would hire them? Perhaps the Heniz Endowments or William Penn Foundation. This is the same “research” team that tried to connect shale drilling to impaired immune systems, low sperm counts, ovarian follicle problems and pre-cancerous mammary gland lesions, in previous fictional studies. More of the same with this study…
Once again we’re talking about strippers. Uh, stripper *wells* that is. In 2012 Pennsylvania passed the Act 13 drilling law that includes an impact fee on wells targeting shale layers, including the Marcellus. Snyder Brothers, headquartered in PA, drills mostly conventional (vertical only) wells in southwestern PA. In 2011-2012 they drilled 45 vertical-only wells targeting the Marcellus. All 45 of the vertical-only wells were fracked. Initially those wells produced more than 90 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/day), but by December of the year in which they were drilled, the wells produced less than 90 Mcf/day. The way the 2012 Act 13 law is written, if a well produces less than 90 Mcf/day during “any” month it is considered a stripper well and exempt from paying the impact fee. The state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) assessed the fee anyway because for 11 months the wells produced more than 90 Mcf/day, arguing the word “any” is not a get-out-tax-jail-free card. Snyder Bros. sued and after an appeal of the case, Snyder Bros. won the case in March 2017, exempting those wells from paying impact fees (see 
Is this the sad end to a noble cause? In 2015 MDN told you about an Allegany County, NY attorney/landowner who filed a lawsuit against the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) over their infamous and politically-motivated ban on fracking (see 
Another fake study is leading to a plethora of fake news stories–from the usual sources. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) used to be, once upon a time, at least somewhat reasonable. Out of the crop of environmentalist wackos, they were the best. People you could have a rational conversation with about fossil fuels. People you could carry on a civil debate with. No more. For the past few years the organization has taken a hard left turn and never looked back. Their latest annual “methane is leaking/the sky is falling” report is proof of that. Over the past six years the EDF has published study after study estimating methane leakage from gas drilling/pipelines/delivery systems somewhere between 1.2% and 1.5%. We all know that some methane leaks out–it’s inevitable. Gas companies are in the business of ensuring it doesn’t happen–it’s the commodity they sell! But sometimes it leaks–out of valves, or pipeline connections, etc. Methane is, as the false-but-popular meme goes, a “far more potent greenhouse gas” than carbon dioxide. Warmists say it so often to themselves, it’s like a mantra. “Methane is worse that CO2.” But the newest EDF “study,” which isn’t really new, pulls new numbers out of the air and now claims 2.3% of methane leaks out of the system. The EDF study is published in the so-called journal Science (which should be renamed Political Science), giving mainstream leftist news sources like the New York Times, Bloomberg and others permission to trumpet headlines that “methane leaks are far worse than the EPA, and we all, thought.” Even if we accept EDF’s new, much higher number of 2.3% leaking (which we don’t accept, but let’s pretend), even at that “high” number, EDF’s own warmist kindred admit extracting and burning natgas to generate electricity is STILL more beneficial for the climate than burning coal (Princeton University says the threshold is 3.2% leakage where natgas is no longer “good” for the climate). So while this is a big story in the leftist media echo chamber, it’s really no story at all…
Here’s a bold prediction: The Age of Natural Gas will replace the Age of Oil–within our lifetimes. That’s the thought running through our head as we read a new report from analytics/consulting powerhouse IHS Markit titled, “The Shale Gale Turns 10: A Powerful Wind at America’s Back.” IHS Markit expects natural gas production to rise by almost 8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), more than 10%, in 2018 alone. Altogether, U.S. production is expected to grow by another 60% over the next 20 years, according to the report. Additionally, IHS Markit now estimates that approximately 1,250 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of U.S. supply is economic below $4 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). That’s up from a previous estimate of 900 Tcf in 2010. “To say that the ‘Shale Gale’–as IHS Markit originally coined it in 2010–has been anything but a veritable revolution would be an understatement,” says Daniel Yergin, vice chairman, IHS Markit and co-author of the report. “It represents a dramatic and largely unanticipated turnaround that dramatically changed both markets and long-term thinking about energy.” Indeed. Here’s more about the report…
CNX Resources announced Tuesday that the company has signed a long-term contract with Evolution Well Services to use Evolution’s 100% natural gas-fueled electric pressure pumping equipment. That is, CNX will use electric fracking equipment, with the electricity generated by burning natural gas (instead of diesel). According to Evolution, their “next generation” equipment saves drillers “up to 95 percent on fuel costs.” Whoa! If that claim is true (we have no reason to disbelieve it), it certainly changes the economics of fracking. Using natgas to generate the electricity, instead of diesel, also has the benefit of cleaner air. And here’s the coolest part: The natural gas used to power the electric generator comes from other other CNX wells in the area, i.e. “field gas.” Look ma, no more endless truck deliveries of diesel fuel! Here’s the exciting news that CNX is a “first-mover” on this new technology…
This year’s Pennsylvania budget deal is different from the previous three such annual budgets. One way it’s not different is that this year’s budget once again hits a new high–a massively bloated, morbidly obese $32.7 billion. Although the budget does not include any new taxes, it does increase spending in a number of areas, including “education” (i.e. teacher’s unions). Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf once again asked for a Marcellus-killing severance tax this year, but he didn’t really mean it. He knew he wouldn’t get one. So Wolf brokered a deal with House and Senate Republicans that leaves out a severance tax. In the previous three budgets Wolf demanded a severance tax and delayed adopting each budget by months, in an act of petulance and temper tantrum. Since this is an election year and Wolf is up for reelection, he decided to forgo the histrionics over a severance tax. So, we’ve dodged the tax bullet once again. However, if Wolf is reelected, expect him to double down and perhaps even shut down state government in order to get a severance tax. The tax battle will be super-nasty next year, you can count on it. Meanwhile, the Senate is due to pass the budget on Friday, and Wolf will sign it soon after…
Last October MDN told you that a second Marcellus gas-fired electric generating plant is planned for Greene County, PA (see 
Liberal Presbyterians in Pittsburgh, along with their comrades from New York, have succeeded in pressuring a once-great denomination, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), into adopting a proposal that forces the denomination to divest from all investments in fossil fuel companies, and instead invest in so-called renewable energy companies. The measure says divestment is “the beginning of a faithful response to the devastating and urgent reality of climate change.” The leaders of the divestment movement within the denomination say investing in fossil fuels is the moral equivalent of investing in tobacco, alcohol and gambling. And yet the very same people and the very same denomination refuse to lead by example. They don’t force their churches to quit using “devastating fossil fuels” to heat and cool their buildings. They don’t demand parishioners quit driving fossil-fuel powered automobiles to church. And they certainly don’t refuse tithes and offerings from those who work at evil fossil fuel companies (nor do they prohibit contributions from fossil fuel companies). Just a tad hypocritical?…
In 2014, the North Carolina legislature passed a law that specifically says local municipalities can’t regulate oil and gas exploration–it is the sole responsibility of the state to do so. Some municipalities thought there were loopholes they could use. Stokes and Chatham counties enacted moratoriums instead of outright bans, hoping to game the system. In order to plug the loopholes, the NC General Assembly approved a 41-page “technical corrections” bill (literally passed in the middle of the night) in September 2015 (see 
Here’s the latest strategy in THE Delaware Riverkeeper’s ongoing war against fossil fuels, and against natural gas pipelines in particular: Pressure the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to revoke a permit granted by the agency to the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project on the flimsy basis that ME2 has “violated” the conditions of the permit. Frankly, we didn’t even know the DRBC had issued a permit for ME2. After all, ME2 is a state-permitted project and does not come under federal authority. We doubt the DRBC has legal authority to issue a permit for the project–but if no one challenges them, their authority stands. ME2 probably thought it easier to just get the permit and not squabble over it. According to Big Green mouthpiece PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania, the DRBC is actually considering Riverkeeper’s request. The problem with this latest strategy by Riverkeeper is that DRBC’s executive director, Steve Tambini, is so weak, he may fold like a cheap deck of cards and actually do it. Tambini, who has been a major disappointment since taking over from the ultra-leftist Carol Collier, seems happy to take his marching orders from Riverkeeper. We have to wonder if this latest strategy will bear fruit. A scary proposition. But Riverkeeper isn’t content to try and scuttle ME2 by pressuring the weak DRBC as its only strategy. Last week the DRBC filed a “groundbreaking” lawsuit against the ME2 project in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, meant to stop the project by court order…
TransCanada’s Leach XPress project–some 160 miles of new natural gas pipeline and compression facilities in southeastern Ohio and West Virginia’s northern panhandle which flows 1.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas all the way to Leach, Kentucky (hence the name)–went online January 1st. A section of the pipeline exploded and burst into flames on June 7 (see