Industrywide Issues

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    Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Martian Case to Stop Rex Energy Drilling

    THE Delaware Riverkeeper (i.e. Maya van Rossum) and a small group of anti-drilling parents from the Mars School District (“Martians”) in Butler County, PA, have just suffered a crushing defeat in their years-long battle to prevent Rex Energy from drilling wells “near” a local school. Backed by money and legal help from Philadelphia Big Green groups Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Air Council, the Martians filed frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit. The effort is aimed at denying landowners in Middlesex Township revenue from legally permitted drilling. The lawsuits have cost the taxpayers of Middlesex Township over $80,000 in legal fees. Even amid the back and forth lawsuits, at least two of the wells were permitted and drilled by Rex Energy, despite the bleatings of the Martians (see Martian Victory! 2 Wells Near Mars School Nearly Done Drilling). But that didn’t stop the frivolous lawsuits. Using legal assistance from THE Delaware Riverkeeper, the Martians appealed a town ordinance that allows the wells to be drilled about 3/4 of a mile from the local Mars School. A panel of three western PA judges in Commonwealth Court heard arguments in the case last November (see Martians Use Riverkeeper to Continue Court Battle Against Rex). This week the three-judge panel ruled–against Riverkeeper and the Martians… Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Martian Case to Stop Rex Energy Drilling”

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    UTOPIA NGL Pipeline Under Construction, Should be Online Jan 2018

    In January 2016, Kinder Morgan (KM) committed to building the UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio where it will connect with another pipeline and (eventually) flow ethane all the way to a cracker plant in Canada (see Kinder Morgan Ready to Move Forward with UTOPIA East Pipeline). However, all was not utopia in UTOPIA–some Ohio landowners got a bumble bee in their bonnet and refused to deal, so KM took them to court (see UTOPIA Pipeline Sues Holdout OH Landowners Using Eminent Domain and UTOPIA Pipeline Still Battling OH Landowners with Eminent Domain). UTOPIA hit a brick wall in Wood County when a judge blocked the use of eminent domain in that county, saying the project does not benefit the public good (see Wood County OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline). No worries. UTOPIA signed lease agreements with more reasonable landowners and altered the route to avoid the ones who don’t want it (UTOPIA East Pipe Re-Routes Around OH Antis, Drops Eminent Domain). Hey, some people don’t want a truckload of money, who are we to argue? Here’s an update: At a recent industry conference in Ohio, Allen Fore, KM’s vice president of public affairs, said UTOPIA is currently under construction and is due to go online in January 2018…
    Read More “UTOPIA NGL Pipeline Under Construction, Should be Online Jan 2018”

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    NEXUS Pipe Revved Like a Race Car, Waiting for FERC Green Flag

    NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate natural gas pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. Its purpose is to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. It is a joint venture between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy. Last December, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a positive final Environmental Impact Statement for the project (see FERC Approves NEXUS Pipeline, Project on Track for 2017). The remaining obstacle for NEXUS is to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC, to begin construction. NEXUS had hoped to have that approval in hand on Feb. 3rd, when FERC issued a flurry of such certificates. However, NEXUS didn’t get one (see In FERC’s Game of Musical Chairs, NEXUS Pipeline Left Standing). That led some to ask, Is there still a market need for the NEXUS Pipeline project? (see Has the Clock Run Out for NEXUS Pipeline?). According to NEXUS president James Grech, you can lay those doubts and fears to rest. At the Utica Capital Midstream Seminar held earlier this week, Grech told audience members that the project is a “race car sitting there revved and all ready to go,” just waiting for a full quorum at FERC to green light (or rather wave the green flag) so they can begin construction. Grech indicates the project is ready to go, and WILL go, as soon as FERC approves it. That is, if a lawsuit by the CORNballs doesn’t derail it…
    Read More “NEXUS Pipe Revved Like a Race Car, Waiting for FERC Green Flag”

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    NG Advantage Virtual Pipe “Done Deal” in Broome County, Antis Stymied

    MDN recently told you about a proposed “virtual pipeline” (i.e. trucking system) coming to MDN’s neighborhood. NG Advantage wants to build a new compressor station and tap into the Millennium Pipeline where it crosses the Chenango River near Port Dickinson, a suburb of Binghamton, in Broome County (see NG Advantage Virtual Pipeline May be Coming to MDN’s Backyard). NG already has three businesses lined up to buy CNG (compressed natural gas) from the project. So-called “virtual pipelines” compress natural gas and load it onto tanker trucks, and then distribute that gas to businesses that are not fortunate enough to be located near a natgas pipeline. It’s a cool concept that bypasses anti-drilling objections to pipelines. However, virtual pipelines have one negative side-effect for local residents: lots of truck traffic. Fenton’s Planning Board recently approved the project and although we thought it wasn’t quite yet a done deal, apparently it is a done deal, as a small group of antis learned earlier this week at a Town of Fenton meeting. Town of Fenton Planning Board approval is all that’s required. The Fenton Town Board has no say in the matter. It’s “a done deal” according to a town official speaking at the meeting. MDN friend Vic Furman attended the meeting and filed a report. Vic says he faced down the antis following the meeting with some hard truth: the reason they now have to live with this virtual pipeline and the traffic it will generate…is because they objected to an in-the-ground pipeline (the Constitution). Vic said they grudgingly agreed that he’s right…
    Read More “NG Advantage Virtual Pipe “Done Deal” in Broome County, Antis Stymied”

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    Funny: Anti-Fracking Copycat Protest Camp in OH Lasts One Weekend

    We’ve all heard and read about the massive protest camp that formed in North Dakota (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?). When they finally left their illegal encampment, they left behind an ecological disaster–mountains of garbage–sticking federal taxpayers with a $1.1 million bill to clean it up. It cost the citizens of North Dakota $33 million in police, fire and safety personnel costs over the course of a year. And in the end–nothing. The pipeline is online and flowing oil even as you read this. It was all for nothing. One (of many) flashpoints in the Marcellus/Utica in recent months has been the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auctioning of federal land in Wayne National Forest (WNF) to allow Utica drilling to begin there. WNF is a patchwork of mostly private, and some federal, mineral rights ownership. The little bit of land leased by the BLM will allow drillers to form units (with adjacent private land) big enough to drill under. Once again out-of-town/paid protesters planned to descend on WNF to protest the BLM sale of land there. It was billed as the next Dakota Access Pipeline camp. These out-of-towners were going to dig in like chiggers and stay for the duration, to make their point. What actually happened? A few showed up and camped for one weekend–then left. In other words, it was an “epic fail”…
    Read More “Funny: Anti-Fracking Copycat Protest Camp in OH Lasts One Weekend”

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    Homeless Shelter, Drug Program, Others Get PennEast Pipe Largesse

    PennEast Pipeline has just released a list of 11 non-profit organizations receiving grants of “up to” $5,000 from the pipeline company. It’s not the first time (see our PennEast grant stories here). In fact, by our count, this is the eighth round of community grants given by PennEast. So far the company has handed out more than $600,000 to local organizations, making a huge difference in the communities where the pipeline is due to run. In this latest round: a homeless shelter, an anti-drug abuse campaign, and a number of first responders (police and fire departments). Here’s a rundown on the latest batch of groups to benefit from this important pipeline project… Read More “Homeless Shelter, Drug Program, Others Get PennEast Pipe Largesse”

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    Wyoming County Landowners Organize re Low Royalties; Arbitration?

    Pennsylvania’s landowners, at least many of them, continue to be angry about getting low–or no–royalty checks. That’s not what they signed up for when leasing their property. A group of 200+ landowners packed a meeting last week in Wyoming County, PA to discuss the situation, and what to do next. The meeting was organized by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO). One distinct possibility raised at the meeting: force Chesapeake (and others) into arbitration. NARO’s approach is to push for legislation, specifically PA House Bill (HB) 557 (see PA Rep. Garth Everett Reintroduces Minimum Royalty Bill, 3rd Time). NARO encouraged attendees to share their royalty stories with lawmakers, telling attendees such stories have an impact. Here’s what happened last week in Wyoming County… Read More “Wyoming County Landowners Organize re Low Royalties; Arbitration?”

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    Public Hearing Held for Harrison County, WV NatGas Electric Plant

    Tuesday night in Clarksburg, WV, the state Public Service Commission heard public comments about a non-utility utility–the Energy Solutions Consortium Harrison County Power plant project. The project is a Marcellus-gas fired electric generating plant that will produce 580 megawatts of electricity to sell to the PJM power grid serving 13 states. Hence our label of a “non-utility utility” project. Technically, the project is not a utility because it’s not regulated with strict price controls, like “traditional” utilities. However, it will sell electricity to regulated utilities. ESC was founded by father and son team Andrew and Matthew Dorn, based in Buffalo, NY. The Dorns are behind a series of WV natgas-fired electric plants, the first of which will get built in Marshall County (see Progress for 3 WV NatGas Electric Plants; 1 Breaks Ground in 2016). At the PSC hearing in Clarksburg, the usual Sierra Club nutters came out to complain. But there were also pro-fossil fuelers there as well, to promote this $880 million clean-burning power plant that will create over 700 jobs while it’s being built… Read More “Public Hearing Held for Harrison County, WV NatGas Electric Plant”

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    Unmasking PA DEP’s War on Shale via Methane Regulations

    Since the beginning of this year, MDN has warned our readers about a push by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to revise methane emissions rules, something called Air Quality General Permit 5 (GP-5), and Air Quality General Permit 5A (GP-5A). According to the DEP, proposed GP-5 and GP-5A, “establish updated Best Available Technology (BAT) requirements for the industry regarding air emission limits, source testing, leak detection and repair, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements for the applicable air pollution sources.” The Marcellus industry perceives the changes to be a threat to the future of the industry in the state (see DEP GP-5 & 5A Regs – Imminent Threat to PA Marcellus Drilling). In March, MDN editor Jim Willis heard former PA DEP Secretary Mike Krancer say if GP-5A is enacted as written, it will result in a 12-18 month moratorium on new production in Pennsylvania (see Big News from the O&G Awards Northeast Industry Summit). This week Mike Krancer and another expert provided testimony to the PA House of Representatives State Government Committee Hearing about GP-5 and 5A, sounding the alarm and making the case that the PA DEP is unfairly targeting the shale industry with these revised regulations. We go a step further and call it a war on the shale industry…
    Read More “Unmasking PA DEP’s War on Shale via Methane Regulations”

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    Attack of the Clones: 10 PA Legislators Use Fractivist Form Letters

    It seems the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has some air cover in its war against the Marcellus Shale industry (see Unmasking PA DEP’s War on Shale via Methane Regulations). The DEP has support from 10 PA legislators who have become fractivist tools by all using the same form letter/template in writing to the DEP. It’s really kind of funny. Below we have a copy of all ten letters so you can see for yourself. The letter signers (since they didn’t actually write them) are from eight PA House Democrats (Dom Costa, Dan Frankel, Robert Freeman, Patty Kim, Stephen Kinsey, Daniel Miller, Greg Vitali, Jake Wheatley), and from two PA Senate Democrats (Art Haywood, Sharif Street). Each form letter starts the same way: “It is critical that as a Commonwealth we continue our efforts to protect our residents and the environment from emissions associated with natural gas drilling.” And the drivel goes on from there. Oh, each one varies a word here or there, but make no mistake, this is form letter fractivism, plain and simple. Look for yourself at the Attack of the Clones…
    Read More “Attack of the Clones: 10 PA Legislators Use Fractivist Form Letters”

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    Franklin County, VA Landowners Use Sheriff to Eject MVP Surveyors

    In May, MDN noted a disturbing trend in the Commonwealth of Virginia of entangling law enforcement in the non-criminal issue of surveying for a federally-authorized pipeline project (see VA Landowner Uses State Police to Eject Pipeline Surveyors). A small minority of landowners continues to use (we’d call it abuse) local law enforcement in their zeal to oppose the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. Under Virginia State law, surveyors may enter a property without the property owner’s express permission to survey, as long as they have sent a prior notice to the landowner with target dates of when they will be on location. Some landowners, knowing the surveyors are coming, call in the cops to pressure the surveyors to leave. And the cops play along. Not a good situation. What typically happens is that the surveyors will leave and subsequently file for a court order of eminent domain, forcing the property owner to later allow the surveyors on their property. It’s a SURVEY for goodness sake! It’s a couple of guys (or girls) walking across the property, using a transit to figure out if/where the best route would go. Landowners are far better off working WITH surveyors to convey their wishes–“I’d prefer you’d leave that area alone”–rather than being obstructionists. But such is the uncivil world we now live in. We have another abuse of cops to eject surveyors, this one involves landowners in Franklin County, VA who called the Franklin County Sheriff’s office to order the surveyors off their property. No worries, the surveyors will be back in a few days with a court order in hand… Read More “Franklin County, VA Landowners Use Sheriff to Eject MVP Surveyors”

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    PA Court Rules Compressor, Gas Well Not “Single” Emission Source

    A somewhat obscure court case in Pennsylvania has potentially big implications for drillers who also own pipeline subsidiaries. In Lycoming County, PA, Seneca Resources (subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company) drilled a series of wells on a pad called Well Pad E. Another NFG subsidiary, NFG Midstream, connected gathering lines to Well Pad E. NFG Midstream operates a compressor station to push the gas through the pipeline system. Both the well pad and the pipeline/compressor station are subject to air emissions regulations by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Each subsidiary on its own–the well pad, and the compressor station–don’t produce enough emissions to trip a costly upgrade in technology. However, if you combine both together into a single “source,” the two together do cross the threshold and would cost NFG big bucks in emissions technology to comply. The DEP lumped both together and told NFG to upgrade their emissions technology. Thing is, if another company owned the pipeline system, say Williams, the DEP would not have tried combining the two into a single source. So NGF appealed the DEP decision to the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a quasi-court set up to hear appeals of DEP decisions. The EHB found in favor of the DEP, so NFG appealed it again, this time to PA Commonwealth Court. Last week the court overturned the DEP decision and said just because two subsidiaries have the same parent, you can’t just lump them together as a single source for air emissions regulations… Read More “PA Court Rules Compressor, Gas Well Not “Single” Emission Source”

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    Group Forms to Shill for High Electric Prices from PA Nuke Plant

    Exelon Corporation, the company that operates the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg (yes, THAT infamous TMI), is accomplishing what it set out to do. Nuclear power simply can’t compete against low-cost, abundant, clean-burning natural gas. And it’s losing. Just like coal did. But nuke plants produce a lot of electricity. And until the past few years, they’ve been quite profitable for the companies that own them. Not any more. So what do those companies, like Exelon, do? Ask the government to stack the deck, of course! Exelon recently announced they will close TMI in the next year or two–unless Pennsylvania behaves like socialist New York and Illinois to prop up the money-losing plant with subsidies. We wrote about this issue recently (see Nuke the Nukes: Harrisburg Battle to Prop Up Failing Nuke Energy). TMI is now the poster child. “Give us money, or we’ll shut ‘er down.” And with the threat of a shutdown, Exelon has enlisted local and state politicians to “sound the alarm” (i.e. shill) in order to “save jobs” and “save our communities” by injecting taxpayer and ratepayer money into these failing power plants… Read More “Group Forms to Shill for High Electric Prices from PA Nuke Plant”

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    Liberal DC Court Asks EPA to Respond to Lawsuit by Radical Enviros

    Yesterday we reported on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s wise move to begin the process of rolling back Obama-era regulations on methane, designed to regulate the oil and gas industry (see Beginning of the End: EPA Issues 90-Day Stay for Methane Rule). Big Green groups with deep pockets sued a few days later, claiming the agency that instituted the rules in the first place (the EPA) shouldn’t be able to roll back the rules they themselves made up. Now, a federal court has somewhat agreed, telling the EPA they have to justify themselves by next week. Funny, the same court never tried to stop these rules in the first place, when 15 states sued to block their implementation. It seems the door only swings one way for the far-left Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C…. Read More “Liberal DC Court Asks EPA to Respond to Lawsuit by Radical Enviros”

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    Rutgers Study Says Williams Pipeline to NYC Econ Boost of $327M

    Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement Project map – click for larger version

    In May 2016, Williams’ Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco) pre-filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a project called the Northeast Supply Enhancement project (see Williams Pre-Files with FERC to Expand Transco Pipeline in PA, NY). The new project will increase pipeline capacity and flows heading into northeastern markets. In particular, Transco wants to provide more natural gas to utility giant National Grid beginning with the 2019-2020 heating season. National Grid operates in New York City, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. At the time of pre-filing, Williams ran an open season to lock up commitments for the Northeast Supply Enhancement project (see Williams Announces Open Season for Northeast Supply Enhancement). The open season worked. National Grid committed to all 400,000 dekatherms (400 million cubic feet per day) of extra gas the project will provide. In March 2017, Williams filed a full, official application for the project (see Williams Files with FERC to Expand Transco Pipeline to NYC, NE). No doubt anticipating stiff opposition from lunatic anti-fossil fuelers, Williams commissioned an independent, third party study of the project with Rutgers University. Yesterday the Rutgers researchers released their comprehensive study (full copy below) that finds the Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement project, which will cost $1 billion to build, will generate $327 million in additional economic activity (GDP) in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. In addition, the project will directly and indirectly generate 3,186 jobs during the one-year construction period, resulting in an estimated $234 million in labor income. This is great news for PA, NJ and NY residents…
    Read More “Rutgers Study Says Williams Pipeline to NYC Econ Boost of $327M”

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    Senate Committee Votes to Approve Trump’s FERC Nominees

    In May, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing for two nominees for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 5 Climate Jihadists Disrupt Senate FERC Nominee Hearing). Neil Chatterjee, energy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Robert Powelson, a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission member and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, were put through their paces, questioned by Senators for two hours. Yesterday the Senate committee members voted 20-3 to send these well-qualified men up for a vote from the entire Senate. Three far-left (frankly kooky) Democrats voted against: Crazy Bernie Sanders (Vermont), Ron Wyden (Oregon, need we say more?), and Mazie Harano (Hawaii, the senator nobody ever heard of). There is no word on when the glacial Senate will schedule a full vote–but it can’t come soon enough. FERC has been without a voting quorum since February. One person who eagerly anticipates the final confirmation is current Acting FERC Chair Cheryl LaFleur who has “expressed relief…the restoration of the commission’s quorum is within sight.” LaFleur said while FERC is “piling up quite a few cases for potential voting,” when the new boys arrive, there are bigger policy issues that the full commission needs to urgently address, including “taxation [and] master limited partnerships in the pipeline area.” FERC does a lot more than approve gas pipelines. Here’s the news of yesterday’s Senate vote, along with a look at what FERC’s current head sees as near-term priorities…
    Read More “Senate Committee Votes to Approve Trump’s FERC Nominees”