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US Supreme Court Keeps MVP Eminent Domain Case Alive in Lower Court
Disappointing news has been a constant this week–and it’s only Tuesday! Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court proved that sometimes it’s not so supreme. The high court breathed new life into a long-running lawsuit funded by Big Green groups using (abusing) a small group of uppity Virginia landowners who are arguing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had no right to delegate authority to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to use eminent domain to cross land, including the land owned by the small group of uppity landowners in Virginia.
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Last August, Columbia Gas Transmission (a subsidiary of TC Energy) filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Virginia Reliability Project (VRP), which includes two new compressor units and the replacement of 49 miles of existing pipeline (see 
Yesterday the Bidenistas at the Dept. of (In)Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a “settlement” (i.e. bullying) with three pipeline companies–Williams, MPLX, and Kerr-McGee Gathering. The settlement requires the three to pay a combined $9.25 million in civil penalties and make improvements at 25 gas processing plants and 91 compressor stations in 12 states, including Ohio and West Virginia, worth another $16 million. The two federal agencies claimed the pipeline companies were violating federal and state clean air laws related to leak detection and repair (LDAR) requirements for natural gas processing plants at various facilities they own and operate across the country.
Yesterday MDN brought you the fantastic news that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in liberal California, had overturned a ban on hooking up new homes and businesses to natural gas in Berkeley, CA (see 
We spotted a post by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that, at first glance, we thought, “Yeah, we know that, and we’ve talked about it.” But on second glance, and after searching our own archives, we came to the conclusion that perhaps we haven’t talked about it. At least not plainly. The “it” we’re talking about is this: In 2022, Pennsylvania’s annual natural gas production *decreased* for the first time since the shale revolution began. Which is notable.
A rare victory for the forces of good. Berkeley, California, a bastion for liberal nuts (there’s a reason the city’s nickname is Berserkely), thought it was all cutesy when, in 2019, it passed the “first-in-the-nation” municipal ban blocking new construction (homes and businesses) from hooking up to natural gas pipelines. Berkeley said it wants to do its part to combat global warming. A few months later, the California Restaurant Association (CRA) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the city’s ability to pass a law banning new natural gas hookups. After a lower court ruled in favor of the city, the CRA appealed it to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Yesterday the judges of the 9th Circuit ruled in favor of the CRA, telling the city it’s trying to regulate gas stoves by denying pipeline hookups–something that only the federal government can do.
Natural gas pipelines use both gas- and electric-powered compressor units. In fact, around 10% of pipeline compressor stations are powered by electricity. Electrically-powered compressor stations on natural gas transmission pipelines have been identified as a possible contributor to gas shortages because they are vulnerable to electric outages during severe weather events. It turns into a vicious cycle. Lack of electricity to the compressor means flows along the pipeline slow or stop, starving power plants of the gas they need to produce electricity. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) recently published an article (study) suggesting possible solutions to fix the issue.
Yesterday the 303-mile, 94% complete Mountain Valley Pipeline project received a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement from the U.S. Forest Service, clearing the way for the pipeline to get built through a piddly 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest. Ring the bells! Dance for joy! Blow the party noisemakers, right? Wrong. This is the third time this same permit has been issued. Nobody was impressed. We only found a single news story about it. The stock of Equitrans, the builder, moved up one penny on the news. Why the muted response? Because everyone has seen this movie before.
This is a story that may (or may not) be directly tied to Marcellus/Utica gas, but it makes a larger point nonetheless. Peninsula Pipeline Company (PPC), a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, just completed an 11.3-mile pipeline expansion that will bring additional natural gas capacity to the Vero Beach, Florida, area. The project, which cost approximately $10.5 million to build, interconnects with existing PPC infrastructure in Sebastian and extends to Vero Beach. The new facilities will transport natural gas to five new delivery points, extending service to the communities of Wabasso, Wabasso Beach, Indian River Shores, North Hutchinson Island, and Harbor Isles.
You knew it was only a matter of time. On March 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a 297-page biological opinion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s (MVP) potential impact on threatened and endangered species if the 94% complete pipeline is allowed to finish (see 
The left’s insane push to ban the use of all fossil energy, including natural gas, is beginning to bear fruit with large utility companies. Dominion and National Grid–huge electric and gas companies providing service to millions of customers–are rumored to be shopping some of their natural gas pipeline networks. So says the venerable Wall Street Journal. The reason? They believe the end of providing natural gas to customers is now on the horizon, and they want to dump their gas pipeline assets now, while those assets will still fetch big money.
It’s not often we’re rendered speechless, but this is one of those times. To say we are incensed, that we are deeply concerned, outraged, etc. doesn’t begin to cover it. Last Friday, the film “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” a screen adaption of Eco-Marxist Andreas Malm’s book of the same title, was released. The film, which is a fictional story, justifies eco-terrorism. It encourages people to become terrorists and blow up fossil fuel pipelines.