Rover Pipeline Challenges FERC re Demolishing “Historic” House
On Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final approval to Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). Normally when FERC approves such a project, they issue a “blanket certificate” that allows the pipeline company to move forward with construction without getting “Mother May I?” permission for every step along the way. But FERC denied ET a blanket certificate for Rover. Why? Because Rover demolished a house that was under consideration for a national registry of historic homes, without first telling FERC (see Rover Pipeline in Hot Water Over Demolishing Historic House in OH). In May 2015, Rover purchased a house in Carroll County, OH, located near where the pipeline, and a compressor station for that pipeline, is due to run. Rover bought the house to use for offices for several Rover affiliate companies. After buying it, Rover determined the house was “ill-suited for its intended purpose” and decided to demolish it. Problem was/is, that house was under consideration to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house was not yet on the list of Historic Places, but was on a list of properties under consideration. FERC says Rover should have reported their decision to demolish the house, which has Rover in hot water with FERC and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. That’s why FERC didn’t issue a blanket certificate for construction of Rover. So ET and Rover have now filed for a rehearing, claiming FERC erred in not granting the blanket certificate…
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Duke Energy Ohio, an LDC or “local distribution company” serves some half a million customers with natural gas in Ohio. The company has a ~12 mile pipeline to flow gas it needs to move from one point to another in Hamilton County (Cincinnati), the southwest corner of the state. The Duke pipeline has been around and in service since the 1950s. Duke needs to replace that pipe or some of the half million Duke customers won’t get natural gas any more. Because anything to do with “fracking” or “pipelines” has been so thoroughly bastardized by the media and anti-fossil fuel protesters, there was, of course, opposition to Duke’s plan. So Duke “listened” and has scaled back their plans. Instead of building a 30-inch gas pipeline running at 600 psi (pounds per square inch), the revised plan calls for a 20-inch pipeline running at 400 psi (see 
At last week’s Oil & Gas Awards’ 2017 Northeast Industry Summit, MDN editor Jim Willis heard former Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary, Michael Krancer, say that the DEP’s proposed changes to General Permit (GP) 5 and 5A are “a big deal” and that the permits, as drafted, have the potential to stop PA natural gas production for 12-18 months while new regulations get sorted out (see 
Yesterday MDN brought you a story about the difference, in the price drillers get for their gas, that a single pipeline can make (see 
You know it’s a slow week for anti-fossil fuel crackpots like Josh Fox and Maya van Rossum (THE Delaware Riverkeeper) when they have to hold a conference call to begin protesting something that hasn’t even happened yet. The Donald has been a busy boy, trying to weed out Obamadroids deeply embedded in the federal government. The President is responsible to appointing something like 5,000 people to positions throughout the federal government. Most of them pass through Presidential Personnel (an office MDN editor Jim Willis once worked in during the Reagan Administration, back in the Jurassic period) and do not require Congressional approval. But one agency of primary concern for us, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), is still missing three of five Commissioners. Trump has not (yet) put forward nominees to staff it, nominees who will have to be approved by the Senate. But lack of nominees isn’t stopping Josh Fox, Maya van Rossum, a PA pig farmer and others with an abject hatred of FERC because FERC is responsible for evaluating and approving pipeline projects. You know, pipelines that flow evil, disgusting, horrible fossil fuels that are poisoning Mom Earth. On a conference call scheduled for tomorrow, Josh, Maya & friends will outline their opposition to ANYONE Trump puts forward. Doesn’t matter who it is. The Dalai Lama? Against him. BH Obama? Against him too. Meryl “hates Donald Trump’s guts” Streep? Against her, even though she’s a hater. Queen Hillary? She’s yesterday’s news. Mickey Mouse? Set out a mousetrap. That will be the strategy outlined on tomorrow’s conference call…
Along with chainsaws buzzing (until Mar. 31) and wood chips flying, Rover Pipeline has now started the backhoes. As MDN previously reported, on Feb. 3 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final approval for Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project, a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see 
Compressor stations in Ohio, needed to flow natural gas through numerous new pipelines being built, require a permit from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to get built. The Ohio EPA considers each application independently, a laborious and long process. In an effort to streamline that process, the Ohio EPA began work on a plan in September 2015 to issue “general permits” for compressor stations (see 
Ding dong–Lush is calling. A British cosmetics company (think UK version of Avon), looking to get bought-and-paid-for publicity here in the states, has donated $22,000 to the anti-Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline group, Lancaster Against Pipelines (LAP). Anti-drilling losers like those in LAP would flare out if not for the backing of companies and Big Green groups with deep pockets. Which cosmetics company did the donating? The name is Lush. You’ve never heard of them and almost certainly have never purchased any of their forgettable products–which is why they donate money to groups like LAP, to get far more exposure than advertising can buy. There’s enough nutjobs out there that will buy products from companies like Lush to make “donating” money for “causes” to these groups a profitable venture. Another funder of LAP? The Universal Unitarian Church in Lancaster, which forked over $5,000 of parishioner contributions to LAP. Hello IRS! Will you please investigate the non-profit Universal Unitarian Church for giving money to an overtly political cause? Who else is donating money to the small group of LAP rabble-rousers?…
Here’s an interesting story. A religious commune of Hare Krishnas in Marshall County, WV steadfastly refused to sign an easement with Rover Pipeline to allow the pipeline across ~3,000 feet of commune-owned property. Rover had offered the Krishnas $7,000 for the easement, but no dice. You may recall that the Krishnas have no problem accepting oil and gas money, and have done so by leasing their land for shale drilling–even though the official view of the Krishnas is that “gas drilling is exploitative, that it is unsustainable and ‘contributes to the culture of death and toxicity’” (see 
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), charged with overseeing potential impacts on the Delaware River and the various tributaries that feed it, has stepped outside of its legal bounds with plans to review the PennEast Pipeline, part of which will run through the Delaware River Basin area. In 2014 the DRBC tried to tell PennEast and its sponsors that the pipeline will need their approval before it can be built (see 
Companies in the oil and gas space, in particular midstream (pipeline) companies, have complicated ownership structures on paper. There are usually a number of subsidiary companies. Sometimes these companies have a “mother ship” which is owned by stockholders, and a subsidiary that is a master limited partnership (MLP), which is a different kind of corporate structure. MLPs don’t have shares of stock but instead issue units (about the same thing as shares of stock). MLPs give the unitholders certain tax advantages not offered to stockholders. Yes, its complicated. The important thing to know is that often these large pipeline companies have layers within layers. Which is the setup for this story. TransCanada, which purchased Columbia Pipeline Group last year for $10 billion (see 
On Friday, Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave a final approval for Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see 
New York State is a hopeless, corrupt mess. MDN previously reported on a $900 million natural gas-fired electric generating plant coming to Orange County, NY (see