Supreme Court Rules President Can Remove Commissioners, Like FERC
Over the past two weeks, just prior to heading out on summer vacation, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a number of extremely important decisions. One of them was Slaughter v. Trump, a 6-3 decision in which the Supremes overturned the 91-year-old Humphrey’s Executor precedent, granting the president broad authority to remove members of independent federal agencies for any reason. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the president must have trusted subordinates to ensure accountability, though the Court exempted the Federal Reserve to preserve its independence. This ruling permanently solidifies President Trump’s earlier removals of Democratic appointees, significantly expanding executive control over critical regulatory bodies, including the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Trade Commission, and most importantly for MDN readers, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Read More “Supreme Court Rules President Can Remove Commissioners, Like FERC”
Data center growth is rapidly reshaping Northeast power and natural gas markets, with projects clustering near transmission lines, substations, gas-fired power generation, and pipeline corridors. Virginia remains the epicenter, led by Northern Virginia’s massive hyperscale hub and tens of gigawatts of planned capacity. Ohio is emerging fast around Columbus, with more than 15 GW proposed. Pennsylvania could become a major growth story, pairing Marcellus/Utica gas resources with large campuses such as Homer City’s planned 4.5-GW gas-fired/data center redevelopment. However, PA is attempting to shoot itself in the foot with talk of both short- and long-term moratoriums on new data center construction. So, the jury is still very much out on how successful PA will be with data centers. 
Wow! Where did the last 10 years go? In June 2015, MDN brought you the news of two Pennsylvania business groups, the Delaware County Chamber and the Washington County Chamber, along with two labor unions, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) with 25,000 members and the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 66 with 7,000 members, joining forces to form the 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) isn’t letting any grass grow under its feet regarding the advancement of the Constitution Pipeline, a 125-mile greenfield pipeline from the Marcellus gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA, to Schoharie County, NY, to deliver Marcellus gas into New York State and New England. FERC is actively reviewing two requests related to reviving the project (see 
This is so frustrating. After seven years, $150 million, and 31 of 34 miles already underground, Connecticut has halted a pipeline project designed to provide a more dependable natural gas supply to the booming southeastern Connecticut economy. Ealier this year MDN told you that Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) had determined that Eversource Energy’s plan to install a natural gas pipeline through Hurd State Park and the Connecticut Valley Railroad State Park Trail requires a formal Environmental Impact Evaluation, unnecessarily delaying a tiny portion (1.1 miles) of this critically-important reliability project (see 
Last September, MDN told you that two major Kinder Morgan pipeline projects that will flow Marcellus/Utica molecules in the southeastern U.S. took a big step forward at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with FERC actively working on an environmental impact statement (EIS) for both projects (see 
It never ends well for landowners who believe they can block pipeline surveyors from accessing their land. In April 2025, MDN told you about a new greenfield expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Elba Express pipeline into South Carolina to serve growing demand for natural gas in the state (see 
RBN Energy has published an excellent series of blog posts discussing pipeline projects under development within and beyond the Marcellus/Utica production area that, collectively, will enable at least a few more Bcf/d to reach customers in the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Midwest by 2030. Part 5 of RBN’s Northeast gas series (below) examines pipeline projects moving Appalachian Marcellus/Utica gas westward into Ohio, the Midwest, and to the Mid-South. 
Last week, MDN reported that the Energy Secretary of the very liberal Democrat regime that runs Massachusetts had written a letter to the New England Power Generators Association, asking power generators to get on board and support an expansion of the Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT) pipeline (see 
Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE) is a 55-mile, 42-inch-wide pipeline that will run through Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson counties in North Carolina. It will provide natural gas to Duke Energy customers. Big Green sued to overturn a federal water quality permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Big Green wanted the court to block construction until the full case could be heard. In May, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) rejected arguments Big Green put forward that claimed the Army Corps’ decision was “arbitrary and capricious” and refused to block construction (see 
In early April, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kosciusko Junction Pipeline Project in Mississippi (see 
A new report from UConn’s Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, bought and paid for by the anti-fossil fuel Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (meaning it’s useless propaganda), argues that the state’s past expansion of natural gas saddled customers with costly infrastructure upgrades without lowering fuel prices. The so-called report says most of the increased gas demand went to power plants—including three new or expanded facilities—rather than heating homes. The propagandists claim that Connecticut, a net electricity exporter, supposedly “absorbed pollution costs,” while benefiting neighboring states. 
This is one of those “man bites dog” (or in this case, “woman” bites dog) stories. Rebecca Tepper has, for years, worked for Maura Healey—first when Healey was Attorney General of Massachusetts, and later (now) in Healey’s role as Governor of the state. Tepper is Healey’s Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Healey is her boss and directs the policies that Tepper executes. So it was a complete shock for us to receive an email from Tepper’s office with a letter attached (see it below) that Tepper sent to Dan Dolan, President of the New England Power Generators Association. The letter encourages (we’d call it demands) New England’s power generators to sign up to receive natural gas during Enbridge’s open season for the recently announced Project Beacon.