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PA PUC Judge Fines ME Pipe $2K, Orders it to Talk More to Locals
In what can only be characterized as a complete and utter failure of a Big Green lawsuit, yesterday a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) judge ordered Sunoco Logistics, builder of the Mariner East pipeline system, to pay a $2,000 fine (the equivalent of a few high-priced lunches) and talk more to local groups around Philadelphia that want to complain about the project. That’s the end result of a request by seven antis that began in November 2018 asking the PUC to shut down the entire three-pipeline project (see Desperation: 7 Philly Antis Ask PA PUC to Stop ME1, Block ME2).
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Just as we predicted, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under Democrat Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick, his sidekick the former NRDC lawyer (Democrat) Allison Clements, and backstabbing, swamp-dwelling RINO Neil Chatterjee, is effectively killing off new pipeline projects. The three FERC commissioners have colluded to fundamentally change the way natural gas and oil pipelines are evaluated by including mythological man-made global warming as one of the criteria for approval.
This is not good. The Weymouth compressor, the final piece of the $452 million Atlantic Bridge expansion project experienced a third “unplanned release” of natural gas yesterday. No word yet on how much gas was released or why. The project is already under an intense microscope with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) threatening to shut it down after only went online in January (see 
Last week the State of New Jersey, along with co-conspirator the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, filed their responses to defend their indefensible actions in blocking PennEast Pipeline’s eminent domain taking of land owned or controlled by NJ. It was their last, desperate attempt to avoid having a lower court ruling overturned. They gave it their best shot, but we think they came up short.
Last week we brought you the earthshattering news of a resurrection–the resurrection of the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project in the New York City area (see 
Nearly two weeks ago MDN reported that the final two “tree sitters” (a man and a woman) who were illegally blocking the path of Mountain Valley Pipeline by living for months/years at the top of several trees, were finally removed from the trees where they were living by law enforcement (see 
Talk about using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. The two U.S. Senators from Massachusetts, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Ed “Lackey” Markey, have reintroduced a bill that would ban the use of compressor stations along natural gas pipelines if those pipelines happen to export some of the gas flowing through them to Canada or Mexico. Do these idiots understand how much gas is imported and exported with Canada and Mexico every single day? That they propose to shut down all of it, simply so they can shut down a single compressor station in Weymouth, Mass., is sick and twisted…
According to S&P Global Platts, natural gas production from the Marcellus/Utica in 1Q21 is up nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), now averaging 33.2 Bcf/d. That’s an increase of 2.8% compared with 1Q20. The problem is the interstate transmission pipelines flowing M-U gas are nearly full and the increase in production means we are beginning to see too much natgas piling up, leading to lower spot prices here in the northeast. However, not all sub-regions in the M-U are seeing an uptick in production.
Republican U.S. Senators (at least a few) have noticed the alarming situation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under new Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Sen. John Barrasso is questioning FERC over its recent decision to reconsider whether or not the Weymouth, Mass. compressor station should have been approved. That’s after the station has been up and running with no problems. It is not right for a new administration to reopen an already-approved (under a different administration) project and threaten to cancel it. It’s not fair nor right in anybody’s book. It’s lawless. Sen. Barrasso tells FERC it has some splainin’ to do. 
Hey, it’s that time of year when thoughts turn to the events of some 2,000 years ago and a Jewish rabbi named Jesus who was raised from the dead. Although nowhere near as world-changing as that event, we have another rise-from-the-dead situation: Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project. We told you in May of last year after the corrupt Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey refused to grant permits to build NESE, that Williams had walked away form the project (see 
The Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is purposefully dragging its feet in an attempt to derail Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline project. DEQ is telling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it will take the rest of this year to review and plan for roughly 120 stream crossings in the state, requesting a time extension of at least six months to do so. If the Army Corps (now controlled by Joe Biden) agrees to DEQ’s request, there is no way MVP, currently 92% complete, can reach 100% completion by the end of this year.
Pipelines are necessary and critical to move supplies of gas (and oil) from where the product is extracted to where it’s needed. In the case of Marcellus/Utica natural gas, there is demand from markets in Canada, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast. There are six major interstate pipelines that flow our gas to Gulf Coast and Southeast. The big question is, will those pipes max out again this spring? It’s a distinct possibility according to the experts at RBN Energy.