USFWS Issues 3rd Finding that MVP Won’t Hurt Protected Species
Will the third time be the charm? Probably not. On Wednesday, 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. We have a full copy of the opinion below. It finds that completing the MVP project will NOT harm protected species. Two other times USFWS issued this same report, and two times the radical judges of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (three Democrats) have overturned the opinion and blocked a permit needed to allow MVP to finish. Will it happen again?
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In 2022, 897 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of interstate natural gas pipeline capacity was added from five projects to the interstate gas pipeline system, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That is the least amount of capacity added to the interstate natural gas pipeline system since the EIA began data collection in 1995. This ignominious achievement happened under the Bidenistas, while Richard “Dick” Glick was Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
It’s full speed ahead in the U.S. House of Representatives, now controlled (thank God!) by Republicans. Today and tomorrow, three different House committees will hold hearings and markups on 20 distinct measures related to energy and permitting reform. The permitting reform measures, in particular, may help save the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project in the Marcellus/Utica region.
In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see 
Equitrans Midstream, an important midstream (pipeline) company in the Marcellus/Utica, issued its fourth quarter and 2022 update yesterday. Equitrans is the builder and soon-to-be (hopefully!) operator of the 94% complete, 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. There were some important updates on the MVP project yesterday. Along with MVP, Equitrans owns and operates the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Area in Jackson Township, Cambria County, PA, which suffered a massive leak last year. Officials provided some updates on that situation as well.
A little over a month ago, MDN brought you the good news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the Williams Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project, a plan to beef up the Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland (see 
Just over one year ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to keep the Weymouth compressor, the final piece of the $452 million Atlantic Bridge expansion project that was years in the making, up and running (see 
Here’s a fact that mainstream media largely ignores: Households in the Boston area pay about 50% more for electricity than households across the nation. On average, Massachusetts residents spend about $276 a month on electricity. That is 37% higher than the national average. An op-ed appearing in the Washington Examiner says New Englanders need to get used to these high prices. High prices for electricity are here to stay (for New England)–at least well into the 2030s. Why? Lack of pipelines, blocked by New England politicians.
Residents living in the vicinity of Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline cryogenic plant in Bulger (Washington County), PA, got a surprise “present” on Christmas morning. Around 7:30 am, residents report hearing an explosion, followed by a fire, at the plant used to separate NGLs (natural gas liquids, including ethane, propane, and butane) from the raw gas stream that flows through the Revolution gathering pipeline (see 
The heads of three major oil and gas groups in the Appalachian region–the Marcellus Shale Coalition (representing Pennsylvania), the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, and the Ohio Oil and Gas Association–combined to pen an open letter to President Biden encouraging him to let the Marcellus/Utica “lead the way” in achieving our country’s shared goals for domestic, affordable, and clean energy. It’s a great letter making strong and cogent arguments for why more M-U natgas can reduce emissions and benefit not only the economy but the environment. There’s just one small problem…
On Dec. 22, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) published a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that allows the nearly-completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to finish up construction through 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest straddling West Virginia and Virginia (see 
Sigh. The Bidenistas are at it again–targeting the fossil fuel industry for extinction. The latest attempt came on January 9th when the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which serves as the White House’s environmental policy arm, issued “interim guidance” to assist federal agencies in analyzing so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) and climate change effects of their proposed actions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). One of the agencies affected by this guidance is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). However, FERC is an independent agency and does not necessarily march to the White House drummer. The question is, how much will the new CEQ guidance affect FERC’s policies as the agency evaluates oil and gas pipelines?