Antis Rally in Orange County, NY Against Clean-Burning NatGas Plant
For more than two years MDN has chronicled the journey of Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) to build a $900 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Wawayanda, NY, called the Valley Energy Center. Early on the project faced court challenges, but a judge gave final approval to build it in September 2015 (see Orange County, NY Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant OK’d by Judge). On Aug. 30, the Cuomo-corrupted NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued a letter to FERC and Millennium, denying Millennium the right to build a 7.8 mile pipeline to feed the new plant (see Corrupt NY DEC Denies Water Permit for 7.8 Mile Power Plant Pipeline). Two weeks later overrode the DEC and told Millennium they can build it anyway (see History Made! FERC Overrules NY DEC on Millennium Pipe Permit). A group of anti-everythings in Orange County are adamantly opposed to the project–and they think if they can stop the pipeline, they can stop the project. Not true. If a gas pipeline is not run to the plant, CPV plans to use fuel oil instead (see If NatGas Pipeline is Blocked, NY Elec Plant Will Use Oil Instead). One way or the other, the plant will be completed in early 2018–and go online, producing electricity. As for what powers it–that remains to be seen. We found it interesting (and amusing) that a group of ninny nannies staged a rally on Monday in Wawayanda (where the CPV plant is under construction), to once again oppose the project–and to encourage the Orange County Legislature to pass a non-binding resolution against the project, hoping for…hoping for we’re not sure what! The plant is getting built. It’s a done deal. It’s going online early next year. It’s a done deal. The only thing that remains is to decide if clean-burning natural gas will power it–or much dirtier fuel oil. Apparently the antis are too obtuse to grasp this simple fact…
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This story is really rich. Consolidated Edison (ConEd) is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. ConEd is a utility, operating in the New York City area. It is one of the largest (perhaps the largest) seller of natural gas in NYC area. In a press release that has us equally laughing and crying, ConEd floats a new plan to meet the “growing natural gas demand” it’s seeing from customers. Early in the release ConEd states the facts: “construction of new natural gas pipelines [in New York] is not keeping pace with growing demand.” Why? Because New York has a corrupt governor, Andrew Cuomo, who caters to wild radicals that give him money for his campaigns. Yes, CORRUPT. And so Cuomo issues edicts to executive agencies, like the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), to deny permits for new pipelines. Hence, NY doesn’t have enough pipelines to flow increasing demand for natural gas. ConEd just admitted that. So how does ConEd plan to solve the problem they have? Maybe anchor a floating LNG import terminal off Long Island? Nope. Virtual pipelines to haul more gas to its facilities? Nope. How about rail cars hauling CNG or LNG? Nope. Here’s the brilliance at ConEd–they want to raise everyone’s gas and electric rates so they can pay building owners to not use as much gas! What?! That’s right, ConEd has filed a rate case with the New York State Public Service Commission that requests permission to raise rates and pay people to use less natural gas. Welcome to Wonderland (i.e. New York), Alice…
Yesterday afternoon Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman told the media that talks on finishing the state budget are “closer than we’ve been in some time.” He also cautioned, “nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.” As for a severance tax, Corman said current discussions do not include a severance tax, which is interesting as Corman is one of the traitorous Republican Senators who voted for a severance tax back in July (see 
An update in the ongoing case of a proposed injection well in Highland Township (Elk County), PA. In 2013 the radical leftist group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) convinced ignoramuses in Highland Township to pass a so-called Community Bill of Rights. Seneca Resources, a driller with leases and an active drilling program in Elk, had planned to drill an injection well on their own property to dispose of their own flowback and produced water. The CELDF-inspired ordinance in Highland prevented it, and Seneca threatened to sue the town (see 
Last week MDN reported the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) had approved of TransCanada’s plan to lowball the price to haul natural gas all the way from Alberta (in western Canada) to the Toronto Dawn Hub in eastern Canada (see 
The deep pockets of the radical Big Green group, the Sierra Club, continue to vex the oil and gas industry. The Sierra Club is involved in so many lawsuits against our industry, you literally need a score card to keep track. Three of the cases the Clubbers have on deck come before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in two weeks–on Oct. 18th. The three cases involve Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved LNG export projects. One of the three is Dominion’s Cove Point project, which is due to export its first shipment this month or next (see 
One of the major themes at last week’s Shale Insight conference was NGLs (natural gas liquids), in particular ethane–and how the petrochemical industry that uses those NGLs will revolutionize the economic landscape of western PA, eastern OH, and northern WV–the tri-state area. One of the hottest of the hot topics is ethane storage. As we reported in early September, a research team from West Virginia University spent the past year studying geologic regions in 50 counties in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region to see if our region would support a proposed $10 billion ethane storage hub (see 
In August the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled in a case that (we previously thought) may have long-term, very negative consequences for the oil and gas industry related to pipeline development (see 
Last Friday the U.S. Energy Information Administration, our favorite government agency, released its Natural Gas Annual 2016 report (full copy below). Weighing in at 214 pages, this report is full of data. It is a datamonger’s dream come true. A few highlights: In 2016, U.S. dry gas production actually FELL from the previous year, the first time that has happened since 2005. Texas saw the biggest dry gas production decline (10%), while Pennsylvania had the biggest increase in production (10.2%). This is the fourth straight year PA production has gone up–thank you Marcellus Shale! Natural gas consumption across the country reached a new record high–for the seventh year in a row. Imported natural gas went down again–for the ninth year in a row. Here’s the full report, and a few bullet point highlights to feed your inner datamonger…
We’ve written in the past about silly nutters who stay awake at night worried that the earth is going to fry to a crisp–any decade now. Often the oil and gas industry (i.e. fossil fuels) are blamed for an increase in methane in the atmosphere. But the reality, as we’ve written many times before, is that agriculture–cows and rice paddies–are the real culprit. In Oct. 2013, we wrote this article: 
A group of lawless anarchists–people calling themselves “anti-capitalists” from the Philadelphia area, have admitted in a blog post that they engaged in illegal, criminal (we’d call it eco-terrorist) activities against construction equipment being used in Media (Delaware County), PA for the Mariner East 2 Pipeline project. The criminals, from the anti-American group Philly Anti-Capitalist, said they filled the fuel tanks of a flatbed truck and several excavators with sand and sugar–meant to ruin the engines. They even outline how to inflict maximum damage to the engines by removing the fuel filters. These idiots justify their criminal actions by saying, “Human-caused ecological collapse and mass extinction are upon us.” In other words, they’re loony tunes. Crazy. Driven to commit criminal acts because they’ve been brainwashed into believing mankind is poisoning Mom Earth by extracting and using fossil fuels. And brainwashed against liberty and freedom as personified in the United States. They are serious (and dangerous) nutjobs. We sincerely hope the FBI, Homeland Security and other police organizations hunt them down and jail them for destroying private property…
Police in Lancaster County, PA are trying to get out in front of what they expect may be a tense situation. Big Green groups along with local nutters in the Lancaster area have pledged so-called non-violent action to stop work on the now-fully permissioned Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile natural gas pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. Lancaster Against Pipelines, headed up by Mark Clatterbuck (who participated in the ineffective protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline) and his wife Malinda. The clattering Clatterbucks have made threats that they and their “many” followers will enter private land and do whatever it takes–lock arms, chain themselves to something, etc.–to stop the backhoes and bulldozers. Several local town police departments, wanting to be prepared, sent a form letter/survey to residents where the pipeline will cross, to ask them (a) if they (the landowners) plan to allow antis onto their property, and (b) if they don’t plan to allow antis, will they consent to allowing the police to arrest antis on their property. Manor police Chief Todd Graeff says his department is neutral with respect to the pipeline–they just want to know where they have permission to enter and arrest people, and where they don’t. In West Hempfield “many” of the questionnaires have been signed and returned. Every single returned questionnaire gives the police permission to arrest antis on their property. Which is a VERY loud and clear signal to the troublemakers: You WILL get arrested and jailed for your shenanigans…
Back in May MDN told you about the antis running the City of Green, Ohio (see 
This is likely the “make or break” week that will tell us whether or not a Marcellus-killing severance tax will pass the Pennsylvania legislature. The PA budget is now close to 100 days late–at least the final bits of the budget. Republicans run both the PA Senate and House. They did the ultimate stupid thing by passing a spending plan of $32 billion with only about $30 billion available to pay for it. So over the past three months there has been intense pressure by Gov. Wolf (Democrat) and Philadelphia (even northeastern) RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) to pass a severance tax–on top of the existing impact fee. Wolf needs the severance tax because he promised the money to Philadelphia teacher’s unions–as payback for electing him. If he doesn’t get the tax, he stands of good chance of not being reelected. It’s always about politics. Lawmakers are back in Harrisburg today, in session, and the mainstream media “mood” indicates a deal will get done this week. Will a severance tax be part of it? We hope not! It is possible, but seems (to us) unlikely that the severance tax will get passed…
In July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. At least, we *thought* the pipeline would end in North Carolina–at Lumberton. However, Dominion vice president and general manager for Southern pipeline operations, Dan Weekley, seems to have spilled the beans at an industry conference that Dominion has designs on extending Atlantic Coast beyond North Carolina–into South Carolina. He said “everybody knows” that Atlantic Coast is not going to stop in Lumberton, “despite” what current plans say. It was just two months ago that FERC issued a final, favorable environmental impact statement for the project–a project that terminates in NC (see