Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NextEra Energy | Pipelines
MVP Partner NextEra Energy Goes Wobbly, Doubts Pipe Will Finish
In the “with friends like these” department…One of the main partners with Equitrans Midstream in the project to build the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project is NextEra Energy (31% ownership). MVP took it on the chin three weeks ago when the Democrat judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a key permit and a key FERC decision to allow MVP to finish up. The pipeline is 94% complete and in the ground. Yet now, because of those court rulings, NextEra Energy says the pipeline has a “very low probability” of completion.
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A former wind lobbyist and friend of Chuck Schumer, Richard “Dick” Glick, took over as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under Joe “Dementia” Biden. Glick is a radical leftist, a swamp-dwelling D.C. Democrat. Under his oversight, the five-member FERC board (three Democrats, two Republicans) voted 3-2 last week to begin using global warming factors when reviewing new natural gas pipeline projects (see 
Frankly, we sometimes wondered if we would ever see this day! Fantastic news: The Mariner East Pipeline system, including Mariner East 1 (ME1), Mariner East 2 (ME2), and Mariner East 2X (ME2X), is now completely built and in the ground. According to an update by builder and owner Energy Transfer issued yesterday, the company is in the process of commissioning and bringing the remaining bits online. The entire system will be online during the first quarter of this year–no later than March 30th. Hallelujah!
As part of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 update, Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge (with huge assets in the U.S., including in the Marcellus/Utica) announced it is spending $400 million to expand capacity on its Texas Eastern Pipeline Company (TETCO) system. Enbridge will also spend an additional $100 million on TETCO for the newly-announced Appalachia to Market Phase II expansion. That’s half a billion dollars on TETCO spending beginning this year. TETCO currently flows roughly 1.9 Bcf/d of Marcellus/Utica molecules with the power to influence gas prices (see 
All eyes are on Equitrans Midstream, the builder of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project that is, once again, on pause due to the leftist judges who sit on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a pair of decisions a week apart, the clown judges overturned a permit and a plan to change drilling methods so the 94% completed MVP can finish (see 
Dominion Energy is divesting itself from a natural gas utility company it owns in West Virginia–Hope Gas, Inc. Dominion is selling Hope to investment firm Ullico Inc. for $690 million. Ullico plans to combine Hope Gas with another company it owns, Hearthstone Utilities, Inc. The reason this deal caught our attention is that Hope Gas owns and operates “2,000 miles of gathering pipelines” in the Mountain State.
The list is, unfortunately, long and getting longer. Atlantic Coast Pipeline. PennEast Pipeline. Constitution Pipeline. And others. Yes, each one of those massive projects that got canceled means a loss of revenue for the companies involved, and a loss of takeaway capacity for drillers in the Marcellus/Utica region. However, perhaps the biggest loss is the jobs those projects would have provided for union workers. The cancellation of each of those projects resulted in the loss of revenue and income for union workers–direct harm to families. Have you thought about those costs?
Most of our coverage about pipelines is for large interstate pipelines, or perhaps large regional gathering pipeline systems. Every now and again we’ll bring you news about a “last mile” LDC (local distribution company) pipeline–the pipes utility companies install and maintain to run gas to homes and businesses. We have a story of that sort for you today. Dominion Energy, a huge utility company that used to be in the pipeline business (but sold its pipeline business to Warren Buffett a few years ago) wants to install a new 760-foot pipeline under the Blue Ridge Parkway (managed by the National Park Service) in North Carolina.
Some good news to report for Olympus Energy. The supervisors for Upper Burrell Township (in Westmoreland County, PA) voted last week to approve a new compressor station that will flow natural gas from multiple wells on 3-4 nearby Olympus well pads.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was established in 1977 as a replacement for the Federal Power Commission. The agency’s mandate was to determine whether wholesale electricity prices were unjust and unreasonable and, if so, to regulate pricing and order refunds for overcharges to ratepayers. Over the years FERC’s mission grew to include the licensing and regulation of hydropower projects; the approval and regulation of interstate oil and gas pipelines; and ensuring the reliability of the nation’s electric power grids. FERC was created as an *economic* agency, NOT an environmental agency. It’s time for FERC to return to its original charter and quit trying to use health and environmental impacts (non-economic factors) to steer decisions on projects.