Pipe Under Potomac River Comes Back to Life; Maryland Mixed Signals
Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of Canada-based TC Energy, wants to build a tiny 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline under the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia. The Eastern Panhandle Expansion, as it is called, is being blocked by the lefties in Maryland (see Fed Judge Upholds Maryland Decision to Block Pipe Under Potomac). Maryland used the same flawed legal argument that New Jersey used to block PennEast Pipeline–that eminent domain can’t be used against land owned or controlled by a state. PennEast won its case against NJ in the U.S. Supreme Court in June (see PennEast Pipeline Squeaks Out 5-4 Supreme Court Victory Over NJ). Columbia now has grounds and is challenging Maryland in court once again. Columbia expects to win, and for good reason.
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Yesterday Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to implement a “responsibly sourced natural gas (RSG) supply aggregation pooling service” at select locations across the TGP system. Translation: Utilities and other buyers will be able to buy RSG certified natural gas for their customers, costing them more money.
On Monday MDN told you about a so-called civil rights “leader”–Rev. William Barber II–who “preached” to a crowd of fellow lefties last Saturday, delivering a “sermon” aimed at pressuring the Virginia State Water Control Board to vote against issuing a permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to cross creeks and swamps in the Old Dominion (see 
The electrical system that powers the United States is made up of individual power grids that connect with each other. Different regions have their own “grid of grids” (called a regional transmission organization, or RTO) that operates to manage the flow of electricity across the entire grid to ensure reliability. In New England, the grid operator/RTO is ISO New England (ISO standing for Independent System Operator). Gordon van Welie, CEO of ISO New England, recently had some startling and stark words about the reliability for New England’s electric grid: Get ready for rolling blackouts.
In August of this year, co-CEO of Energy Transfer, Tom Long, said “the final phase of the Mariner East Pipeline is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021” (see 
Far-left Democrat and so-called civil rights “leader” Rev. William Barber II “preached” to a crowd of fellow lefties on Saturday. The topic of the reverend’s sermon? The evil, racist Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). We bet you didn’t know that MVP is “an abusive sin,” did you? Yeah, it’s right there in Revelation. That’s what Rev. Barber told his audience. That evil ole’ snaking pipeline will “harm the poor” and people of color. The rally was arranged ahead of this week’s Virginia State Water Control Board vote (on Tuesday) to allow MVP to cross minor creeks and swamps in the state.
A natural gas pipeline project management company based in Canonsburg, PA, GW Ridge LLC, ceased all operations in November and filed for bankruptcy in a Texas federal court. Creditors owed money filed a competing Chapter 7 bankruptcy action against the company in Pittsburgh and GW Ridge withdrew its Texas filing and agreed to allow the Pittsburgh case to proceed. A Chapter 7 (as opposed to a Chapter 11) means the company has stopped all operations and its assets will be sold or auctioned and the money given to creditors. GW Ridge is no more.
MDN first told you about plans to build the Chickahominy Power Station, a 1,650 megawatt state-of-the-art natural gas-fired power plant in Charles City County, VA, in June 2018 (see 
Speakers on a panel at the recent 23rd World Petroleum Congress, held in Houston, TX, made a strong case for natural gas as the only legitimate “green” alternative to power the world. At least for the next couple of decades. The panel was called “Can Natural Gas, Including LNG, Deliver on the Promise of a Clean & Affordable Transition Fuel?” Charif Souki, Chairman of Tellurian and founder of Cheniere Energy, along with Jim Teague, Chief Executive of Enterprise Products Partners, made some great points. Souki asked the question, why in the world would we “trade” dealing with OPEC for dealing with (subjugation to) China?
While drilling in Chester County in August 2020 in the Marsh Creek State Park area, Energy Transfer’s (ET) Mariner East 2X pipeline experienced an “inadvertent return”–nontoxic drilling mud coming up out of the ground where it’s not supposed to (see