FERC Slaps NY AG; No Re-Hearing on Constitution Pipe Tree Clearing
It’s now apparent that the fix has been in from the beginning–that New York’s corrupt Gov. Andrew Cuomo, colluding with New York’s corrupt Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, were on a mission to block the construction of the federally approved Constitution Pipeline, due to run from Susquehanna County, PA into Upstate New York (to Schoharie County). Before Cuomo decided to take the breathlessly lawsless act of blocking the pipeline by denying stream-crossing permits (being challenged in court), the Constitution asked for permission to begin clearing trees along the pipeline’s path. In January 2016, Schneiderman immediately objected (see NY AG Objects to Williams Tree Clearing for Constitution Pipeline). The Constitution never received permission and so did not clear any trees in New York State. Except–some trees did get cleared, by the landowners themselves. Landowners who wanted to realize the most money from trees that will eventually be cut were cutting the trees ON THEIR OWN, without the help, consent, assistance, or any form of aide from the Constitution. Schneiderman’s response? The Constitution should have known those stupid farmers would cut the trees and should have done something to stop it. So in May 2016, Schneiderman asked FERC to investigate the Constitution over the tree clearing matter, something called a “rehearing” (see NY Attorney General Asks FERC to Investigate Constitution Pipe and NY AG’s Allegation of Tree Cutting by Constitution Pipe a Fraud). FERC just got back to Schneiderman, and told him, NO…
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The Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), originally built from Colorado and Wyoming to Monroe County, OH to bring natural gas from west to east, last year reversed the flow for a large and important section of the pipeline. On August 1, 2015 the section of REX from Monroe County, OH to Mexico, MO reversed the flow and began to carry 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Utica and Marcellus Shale gas to the Midwest, including to the greater Chicago area. REX has been hard at work on plans to expand capacity even more by beefing up compressor stations along portions of the pipeline. Their efforts have paid off. REX previously filed a plan with FERC to add another 800 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of capacity along the same portion of the reversed pipeline. Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave REX the go-ahead to start additional compressors added at three locations along the route…
The city of Green in Summit County, OH has put NEXUS Pipeline on notice that if surveyors show up to survey in the city and if those surveyors don’t have permission from the landowner, or a judge’s order, those surveyors will be arrested and charged with trespassing. Apparently Green hasn’t gotten the memo that pipelines are the safest form of transportation on earth–period. NEXUS, as well as other pipeline projects, face a classic Catch-22 situation. In order to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to grant a certificate to build the pipeline, the pipeline company must first conduct initial surveys to plan the route. With a certificate from FERC in hand, the pipeline then has the power of eminent domain to use on recalcitrant landowners to build the pipeline across their land. The open question is whether or not the pipelines can use eminent domain to conduct the survey ahead of a full FERC certificate. That’s the Catch-22. Surveying doesn’t do a single thing to a property, other than a few guys and gals running around for a short time looking through a transit and taking measurements. It’s a shame that landowners, in some cases, won’t even allow that. So Green has put NEXUS and the world on notice that the city and its residents don’t want to participate in the riches that come from shale. Fine. Let them eat dirt…
Sunoco Logistics Partners, the builder of the Mariner pipeline projects, has fought a long and hard legal battle to be recognized as a public utility in Pennsylvania–especially with regard to the next big project in the lineup, the Mariner East 2 pipeline. ME2, as it’s called, is a $2.5 billion, 350-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will run from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. From the beginning anti-pipeline fanatics have tried to derail the project by claiming it is not a public utility (with the right of eminent domain) as defined by PA’s statutes. In July 2014 two administrative law judges working for the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) said ME2 is not a public utility (see 
We spotted a great editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer (of all places) written by the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Marty Durbin. Marty used to be the head of the American Natural Gas Association (ANGA) before it merged with and into API. Marty’s column looks forward to Donald Trump’s presidency and to getting back to “smart energy policies” as opposed to the dumb energy policies we’ve gotten under Lord Obama. As we read the column, it dawned on us that the real point Marty is making is this: It’s time to build MORE pipelines in this country! Not less. It’s time to push the advantage and to lock in fossil fuel use for the next couple of generations. Love it! Give Marty’s excellent column a read…
Are those war drums we hear beating? Perhaps! If you are involved in the oil and gas industry in just about any capacity, it’s hard to miss the story of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and the paid criminal protesters who are trying to stop it (see 
It’s always nice when our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, says nice things about the Marcellus/Utica. Today the EIA, publishing in its Today in Energy online publication, highlights the Utica Shale and the very necessary pipeline projects that promise to bring more “takeaway” capacity from the ever-expanding Utica. EIA looks at four key pipeline projects: Rover, NEXUS, Leach Xpress and Rayne Xpress. If you add them all together, those four new projects (all due to be completed by end of 2018 or before), will add an additional 6.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of takeaway capacity out of the Utica…
Something noteworthy has happened in Buckingham County, VA. Planning Commission members in the county worked hard to evaluate a request by Dominion for their Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a request to build a compressor station in Buckingham County. Residents expressed concerns–over noise, air pollution, explosions–you name it. Planning Commission members listened, and in the end, voted to recommend that Dominion be allowed to build the compressor station, as long as they adhere to 40 conditions set forth in the Commission’s recommendation. You see, this is how adults do things. They are reasonable (able to be reasoned with). They listened, closely. They heard the concerns. They devised a plan that will allow Dominion to build the compressor station, but at the same time protect the residents that live near it. Of course that wasn’t good enough for the children-in-adult-bodies who chanted a threat to shut down the pipeline…
On April 29, Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” pipeline exploded in Westmoreland County, PA, seriously injuring one resident who was burned over much of his body (see 
The radicals at the Sierra Club are at it again. Causing private companies to expend big money to defend their Constitutional, capitalistic rights. The NEXUS Pipeline is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. The Sierra Club has just sued DTE Energy, one of the sponsors of the project, falsely claiming DTE’s electric customers will end up paying more for electricity because of the pipeline…
Paul Driessen is senior policy adviser for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), which is sponsoring the All Pain No Gain petition against global-warming hype. He also is a senior policy adviser to the Congress of Racial Equality and author of “Eco-Imperialism: Green Power – Black Death.” Driessen writes and publishes in a number of venues, including Townhall. A recent article penned by Driessen (below) absolutely nails the anti-pipeline movement in our country. We’ve long known that antis moved from fracking to piplelines, figuring they could stop the use of fossil fuels if they can strangle the pipeline network necessary to move oil and gas to market. But as Driessen explains, the real root of this movement, the thing that motivates them more than anything, is not saving Mom Earth. It is the total annihilation of capitalism (and our country). That’s what drives these anti-pipeline fanatics…
Earlier this week we ran the news that Canadian pipeline giant TransCanada’s plan to radically lower the cost to pipe natural gas from the western regions of Canada to the eastern part of the country, in an effort to undercut Marcellus/Utica gas from flooding into the region, failed (see 
Earlier this week MDN brought you the news that the New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel (NJDRC)–a state government agency responsible for representing the interests of residents, businesses and other rate payers in dealing with regulated public utilities and insurance firms–responded to PennEast Pipeline’s release of a study obliterating the NJDRC’s claims that the pipeline isn’t needed (see