NEPA State Senator Introduces Bill to Regulate Rural Pipelines
A northeastern Pennsylvania State Senator, Lisa Baker, has introduced Senate Bill (SB) 1044 that would regulate thousands of miles of gathering pipelines (and compressor stations) that are currently not regulated in PA. The bill, introduced on Oct. 26 and co-sponsored by three other Republicans and two Democrats, is colloquially called the Rural Pennsylvania Pipeline Safety Act. The bill gives the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) the power to regulate rural pipeline operators. The Gas Processors Association is watching it closely and says they will be a part of its development going forward. Below we have a brief overview of the bill, along with a full copy as filed on Oct. 26…
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Yesterday Dominion, a huge utility/pipeline company operating in 13 states and organized into multiple corporations, released their third quarter 2015 update. Frankly, the official press release was pretty boring and short–concentrating on the financials. Our chief interest is on the operations side–tell us about the projects under way. So we went trolling through a transcript of yesterday’s investors conference call and sure enough, came up with gold. Tom Farrell, CEO of Dominion, had quite a bit to say in his prepared remarks about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Cove Point LNG export plant, and even about “farmouts” of Utica acreage. Farrell said that surveying is 85% complete for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and engineering is 75% complete with some contracts for pipe already awarded. Farrell said that overall, the Cove Point project is now 47% done and there are 1,300 workers on site now. Exciting! But what’s this business about farmouts?…
It was just two weeks ago that MDN posted an article saying the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has had enough time to approve stream-crossing permits for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline. It’s now time to force their hand (see 
In a somewhat related story posted today, MDN tackles the thorny issue of taxing pipelines in Pennsylvania. As serendipity would have it, last week Energy in Depth posted an excellent article on the financial impact pipelines are having in Ohio. Would you believe it if we told you that not only will an astounding $8 billion be spent to build new pipelines in the Buckeye State in 2016, but also an estimated $360 million in ad valorem property taxes (taxes on pipelines) will roll in to local municipal coffers. Next year. And every year thereafter! Here’s the numbers broken down by who is doing the spending and paying the taxes, and which pipelines will generate the most economic activity in Ohio next year…
An Associated Press (AP) story appearing in multiple newspapers and in online outlets has returned to the meme of how unfair it is that pipelines in Pennsylvania are not taxed, as they are in other states like New York, Ohio and West Virginia. Perhaps they have a point? No, MDN isn’t going “soft”! We’ve long made the argument that a permanent structure in the ground should benefit landowners beyond a one-time, up-front payment (see the suggestion by Bryant LaTourette made at the Constitution Pipeline scoping hearing in April 2014: 
About 20 hippie retreads showed up in Harrisburg, PA on Wednesday to protest outside of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) regional office in Harrisburg to protest the fourth meeting of Gov. Tom Wolf’s Pipeline Infrastructure Taskforce. In May Gov. Wolf announced he was forming a taskforce to study and make recommendations on how the state can better work with (i.e. control) where local gathering pipelines are installed (see 
Way back in May 2014 MDN told you that UGI Energy Services, a subsidiary of UGI (a utility company in northeast PA) would build two new pipelines in northeast PA for $80 million that will allow them to transport cheap, abundant, locally extracted natural gas from Cabot Oil & Gas in Susquehanna County to residents in the greater Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area (see 
May we paint with broad brush-strokes for a moment? It’s been our observation over the years that anti-drillers (and anti-pipeliners, and anti-fossil fuelers) are typically liberal Democrats who have bought into the notion that (a) mankind is catastrophically heating up ole Mother Earth, and (b) they (the lib Dems) are uniquely qualified to run your life for you by choosing your energy sources. They love to tell you how to live your life–i.e. deny you freedom to live your life they way you want to, including selecting your own energy sources. It’s also been our observation that many (not all, but many) of the most vocal antis are hippie retreads who haven’t been this jazzed about a “cause” since the end of the Vietnam war. Yes that’s a very broad generalization and not true in all circumstances–but it’s more true than not. On the other side of the isle, when we’ve attended meetings about fracking and pipelines and FERC scoping hearings–we’ve noticed landowners and small business owners and pro-drillers are the “gray heads with hats” and blue jeans in the crowd. Typically quiet. Perhaps a bit uncomfortable that they’re in the same room with a largely lawless bunch of mouthy antis. The antis tend to form all sorts of groups with innocuous sounding names (Riverkeeper, Mountainkeeper, Trout, Clean Air, Community Rights, etc.). Pro-drillers and landowners? They don’t form groups so much. They don’t protest so much. They’re too busy working their fingers to the bone–paying for the welfare state anti-drillers avail themselves of! So when a group of pro-energy people DO form a group–that’s news. Such a group has formed in Ohio and Michigan in order to support two much-needed pipeline projects–Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline and Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Pipeline…
As we’ve previously mentioned, the most recent issue of the 
Once more the Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) violates the U.S. Constitution by creating an unlegislated law and declaring it in effect for the oil and gas industry–thereby regulating oil and gas, even though according to the U.S. Constitution the individual states are the ones with power to regulate the oil and gas industry. And barely a peep. Everyone just lays down and takes it. No push-back. What a shame. Last week the EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register amending reporting on mythical greenhouse gases that will now be required by oil and gas drillers–particularly those who use horizontal hydraulic fracturing (i.e. fracking). Not to be left out–if you build and maintain pipelines to gather natural gas and oil, you’re affected by the new rules too. Another massive federal power grab which goes into effect on January 1st. One more freedom dies under Barack Hussein Obama…
Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the United States and a utility with 7.3 million customers in the southeast and Midwest, announced today they are buying Piedmont Natural Gas for $4.9 billion in cash and the assumption of $1.8 billion in existing debt–for a total deal price of $6.7 billion. Piedmont is a midstream and natgas LDC (local distribution company, or utility) with operations primarily in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. This is the story of a big southern electric utility buying a smaller southern natural gas utility. So why is it important for the Marcellus/Utica? Because Piedmont has been active in two very important pipeline projects in the Marcellus/Utica–and that project ownership will now go to Duke…