Looks Like FERC’s Glick is History – Manchin Won’t Hold Hearing

It looks like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick is about to be out of a job. Glick, a Democrat and former wind lobbyist who is an extreme anti-pipeline radical, was first appointed to FERC under Donald Trump. He was nominated by Joe Biden for reappointment to a second five-year term in May (see Joe Biden Renominates Dick Glick for Another FERC Term). Just last week, the rumor mill around the D.C. swamp predicted a hearing would be held next week by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by WV Sen. Joe Manchin, to reappoint Glick (see Rumor: Dick Glick to Get Senate Renomination Hearing on Nov. 15). No more. Yesterday, Manchin’s office said there will be no hearing for Glick–not this year, anyway. Meaning Glick is out.
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This is rare. The CEO of Williams (Alan Armstrong), one of the largest pipeline (midstream) companies in the U.S. and on the planet, sent an open letter (an official filing) to the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Richard “Dick” Glick, using pretty abrupt language to tell Glick FERC needs to approve the Regional Energy Access expansion project by November 30th or the project WILL be delayed by a full year. The letter has the look and feel of an ultimatum.
Earlier this year, Equitrans Midstream announced it had filed a new pipeline expansion project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see
Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth’s attempt to block a proposed frack wastewater treatment plant in Dimock (hours away from her own district) has completely bombed out. Muth tried to challenge and block a permit for the plant, an effort which was mostly rejected in court back in June (see
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who President Joe Biden picked to lead the agency in early 2021, has been every bit the radical we feared he would be. An investigation by Fox News Digital found Regan has held secret meetings with the leaders of Big Green groups–including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and League of Conservation Voters (LCV)–groups that actively seek to destroy the U.S. fossil fuel industry and are funded with foreign “dark money.” If this were a different administration and Donald Trump’s EPA was found to be having secret meetings anti-renewable energy organizations, it would be plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the land–for weeks. But Regan meeting with and colluding with these foreign-backed groups? Not a peep.
Anti-fossil fuelers continue to pressure the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (and Pennsylvania itself) over the grievous sin of approving the Shell ethane cracker plant project (see 
Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1059 is legislation to provide $142 million annually in state tax credits for several purposes, including clean hydrogen hubs, use of natural gas, semiconductor manufacturing, and milk processors. HB 1059 was approved by both the state Senate and House last week and sent along to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature (see 
Rumors are circulating on Capitol Hill that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is eyeing Nov. 15 for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick’s confirmation hearing for a second five-year term. We sincerely hope those rumors are wrong. Glick, a Democrat and former wind lobbyist who is an extreme anti-pipeline radical, was first appointed to FERC under Donald Trump. He was nominated by Joe Biden for reappointment to a second five-year term last May (see
Last December, Columbia Gas Transmission pre-filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Virginia Reliability Project that will add 100 MMcf/d of incremental capacity on Columbia’s system to serve delivery points in southeast Virginia, namely Virginia Natural Gas (see
Yesterday Equitrans Midstream, the builder and majority owner of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, issued its third quarter 2022 update. The big news (for us) was that Thomas F. Karam, CEO of Equitrans, said that if the 95% complete MVP is going to get finished, it’s probably going to take an act of Congress to do it. The same three clown judges (our words) of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals are signaling they will continue to block MVP, says Karam. In contrast to the clouds over MVP, yesterday’s update shared a bit of good news for a second Equitrans project.
You know what kneecapping is, right? It happens when a gangster or thug uses a handgun (or baseball bat) to shoot someone in the knee, inflicting permanent, lifetime damage. It’s a very cruel form of punishment inflicted on one’s enemy. It’s also an apt metaphor for what is coming under the so-called Biden Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the renamed version of what had been called Build Back Better, made possible by a single vote from U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (see
Late last week, both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) held a conference call with Freeport LNG to discuss progress being made in restoring the 2.1 Bcf/d LNG export facility back to full working order. Freeport experienced an explosion and fire in early June (see
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has, for a second time, served a notice of violation (NOV) of the PA Clean Streams Law to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) for causing sediment pollution in the Loyalsock Creek north of Montoursville (Lycoming County). PGE is constructing a natural gas pipeline, a freshwater pipeline, and it withdraws fresh water for Marcellus Shale-related activities at the site.
For some time, we’ve been sounding the alarm about a coming change at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that will force publicly traded companies to disclose mythical greenhouse gas emissions data (see