FERC Issues Draft EIS for Cumberland Pipeline to TN Power Plant
The radicals of the odious Sierra Club and its sycophants at the Big Green-funded group Appalachian Voices are attempting to use scare tactics against the neighbors and landowners who live along the route of a 32-mile long, 30-inch wide natural gas pipeline that Kinder Morgan needs to build to feed a new gas-fired power plant near Cumberland City, Tennessee. Hyping up “blast zones” and other nonsense, the neighbors are understandably nervous. The good news is that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a draft environmental impact statement (dEIS) last week for the project, indicating the project can get built and operated safely.
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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?
Last week a “suspicious item” was found at a natural gas transmission facility in Fallowfield Township in Washington County, PA. It looked like a bomb, an “improvised homemade” device, and was placed into the door of an industrial pipe at the Eastern Gas Transmission facility. The PA State Police and FBI responded to investigate. They later determined it was not explosive, and they removed it. But it certainly looked like it was explosive (i.e. a bomb), which is why they responded.
In February 2022, Equitrans Midstream announced it had filed a new pipeline expansion project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
In late December, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) voted to grant permission to New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) to build a pipeline regulator station in Holmdel, NJ. What does a regulator station do? It reduces pressure on the underground natural gas pipelines that already exist in the area, running underneath the ground in Holmdel Township and throughout Monmouth County. Ultimately, a regulator station will ensure the reliability of the pipelines and gas that flows in the area. The new station will replace a currently-operating temporary regulator station. Yet the “leaders” of Holmdel have voted to appeal the BPU decision to court, allocating up to $20,000 (of taxpayer money) for legal fees in what is sure to be a fruitless attempt at overturning the BPU decision.
The clown judges who occupy the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circus) appear ready to reject a water permit granted by the Virginia State Water Control Board to help finish up the 94% complete Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Three judges from the 4th Circus were appointed back in 2017 to hear appeals by Big Green groups against the project. All three judges are profoundly bigoted and prejudiced against natural gas pipeline projects. Yesterday, the three clowns heard oral arguments from the foreign-backed Sierra Club (and its cronies) arguing the Control Board’s approval of a permit to cross streams and wetlands violates the federal Clean Water Act.
A combination of federal, state, and local grants totaling $6 million will be used to extend a natural gas pipeline to the Cumberland Industrial Park and residences near Bluefield, WV (Mercer County). The Mercer County Commission is chipping in $1 million. The state of WV is giving $2 million. And WV Sen. Shelley Moore Capito secured $3 million from the federal government. Work will begin “soon” on the project.
MDN has highlighted Capstone Turbine Corporation, a California company that manufactures small electric-generating plants that run on natural gas, several times in the past (
On January 18, 2022, Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company (ESNG, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate a new natural gas-fired compressor unit and ancillary facilities at its existing Bridgeville Compressor Station in Sussex County, Delaware (called the Southern Expansion Project). Right away, the odious radicals of Food and Water Watch filed an official protest. It took nearly a year, but (as we’re just learning now) on Dec. 16, FERC issued full approval for the project. The new compressor unit will flow an extra 7.3 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) of natural gas to new residential, commercial, and industrial customers along the Delmarva Peninsula.
Here’s a question: What are the 15 biggest (by company revenue) natural gas-owning pipeline companies in the world? The U.S. has the biggest natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the world, covering a distance of 333,000 kilometers (206,917 miles). Even so, only one U.S.-based company is in the top 5 biggest pipeline companies. Can you guess which country takes the top 2 spots on the list?
Kinder Morgan issued its fourth quarter 2022 update yesterday. Among the news updates, we learned that work on two of three compressor station projects along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (near New York City) is now underway. There was also some big news about top management shuffles. CEO Steve Kean is retiring, setting off a game of musical chairs (or musical ladders) with existing employees moving up the ladder at the company.