PA House Dems Intro PA Gov. Shapiro’s DOA “Lightning” Energy Plan
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has found some willing accomplices among PA House Democrats to introduce six bills to implement Shapiro’s nutty, very partisan energy plan, called the “Lightning Plan.” Shapiro claims his so-called Lightning Plan is “a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan to secure Pennsylvania’s energy future.” Except his plan puts the thumb of the government on the scales in favor of wind, solar, and hydro, and purposely disadvantages natural gas. Our observation: If it takes six (or more) bills to adopt his energy plan, something is seriously wrong. Read More “PA House Dems Intro PA Gov. Shapiro’s DOA “Lightning” Energy Plan”
We spotted a press release that caught our attention. Duke Energy, owner of electricity utility companies serving 8.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, has just sealed a deal with GE Vernova to buy up to 11 7HA gas turbines to power new gas-fired power plants. That’s in addition to eight 7HA turbines Duke has already purchased from GE Vernova. While the timing for deliveries was not specified, the announcement implies that Duke is getting its turbines sooner rather than later, which is saying something because lately there has been a years-long waiting list for these types of turbines. And yes, there is a connection to the Marcellus/Utica. 
Yeah, it happened. And we’re not happy about it. Yesterday, the NYMEX “front month” futures contract for May sank below and stayed below $3/MMBtu, closing at $2.930/MMBtu, some 9.2 cents lower than the closing price from the day before. It was the lowest settlement price since Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. The spot price for physically traded natural gas slipped, too. If there was any bright spot, the NGI Appalachia Regional Average price, an average of all the spot price trades in the Marcellus/Utica region, gained a penny yesterday. 
Range Resources issued its first quarter 2025 update yesterday. Range produces a significant volume of NGLs (ethane and propane), in addition to methane (natural gas). Range CEO Dennis Degner told analysts yesterday that, no matter “how the tariff dust settles,” demand is expected to be “relatively strong” for its U.S. East Coast volumes of NGLs. Degner said that 80% of Range’s propane (LPG) production is exported by ship. “And all of it is going to Europe right now,” he said. “So we really don’t have a current exposure to the Chinese market.” Smart company. 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the April 19 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 58 general water use permits in March for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Blair, Bradford, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties in Pennsylvania. 
Compressor Station 165 in Pittsylvania County (in southern Virginia) is part of the Transco pipeline network, the nation’s largest-volume interstate natural gas pipeline system. CS 165 is also the endpoint of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which carries 2 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA. Williams, the owner of Transco, replaced an aging fleet of engines at CS 165 with new turbines that decreased emissions and took up far less space. Enbridge, another major midstream company, is replacing hundreds of flow meters with newer models, which deliver much better information to the company in real-time. 
This is TOO funny! Donald Trump so rattles the fascist climate left, they’re now imagining things that haven’t and won’t happen. Someone on the environmental left spread a rumor last week that the Trump administration was about to issue an executive order revoking the tax-exempt status of so-called “green” groups, those that employ lawfare to attack the U.S. and its energy industry. You know, groups like the Sierra Club, 350.org, Food & Water Watch, National Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and others. They’re jumpy, like they’re on drugs. (Well, some of them probably are.) The rumor spread like wildfire among the guilt-ridden groups that Trump was coming for their tax-exempt status. And then the White House said nope, it’s all just a fantasy of the jumpy left. 
The rumor mill was right. In February, MDN brought you the juicy rumor that Olympus Energy, founded in 2012 as Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (a company that drills exclusively in the Pittsburgh suburbs), was being shopped for sale by its main financial backer (see 
In January, MDN reported that the PJM Interconnection electrical grid operator, covering Pennsylvania (along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia), had caved to the political demands of PA Gov. Josh Shapiro to artificially cap the prices of the next capacity auction scheduled for July 2025 (see 
One week ago, MDN told you that an on-again, off-again plan to build a massive natural gas-fired power plant (that would use Marcellus gas) in Pittsylvania County, Va., had been pulled by the builder (see 
Energy analysts say the front-month contract for NYMEX natural gas (for May) is “flirting with [the] $3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) psychological level.” At one point during trading yesterday, the price tested an intraday low of $2.995. Yuck. Are we heading back below $3 again? Unfortunately, analysts are saying that although $3 is a strong psychological barrier, “technicals indicate further weakness ahead.” Sounds a bit ominous. 
Reuters is reporting that the European Union (we call them ‘Euro weenies’) is looking at ways to make it easier for U.S. LNG exports to comply with its onerous new methane emissions regulations. The EU is earnestly trying to avoid a trade war with President Trump, according to sources speaking to Reuters. What’s happening is that Europe is trying to figure out how it can not block U.S. LNG based on its cockamamie new regulations and save face at the same time. 
The research continues to roll in that deeply blue Democrat states that insist on forcing their citizens to convert to so-called green energy are driving them out of those states. Last week, we brought you an analysis of counties along the Pennsylvania/New York border, on either side (see 