PJM Proposals Make Behind-the-Meter Power for Data Centers Easier
PJM Interconnection recently proposed reforms to its retail BTM (behind-the-meter) generation rules to support data center colocation. The filing, responding to a FERC mandate, introduces a 50-MW threshold for BTM facilities and three new transmission service categories. Under the plan, new loads exceeding 50 MW would be ineligible for “netting,” a process that currently lowers grid charges by balancing on-site generation against consumption. While existing contracts are grandfathered, industrial trade groups warn that removing netting rules threatens the economic viability of combined heat and power facilities, potentially discouraging manufacturing investments while aiming to address regional grid reliability and grid cost-shifting concerns. Read More “PJM Proposals Make Behind-the-Meter Power for Data Centers Easier”
Several Big Green groups, including the Sierra Club, Wild Virginia, Appalachian Voices, and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a legal challenge against a permit issued by Virginia for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate extension. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved a water permit for the project in January 2026. Big Green radicals argue that the pipeline “threatens” 138 streams, wetlands, and regional drinking water supplies. It’s the typical lawfare tactic used by the left to stall work on projects, hoping to delay them long enough that the builder (EQT in this case) gives up. Or if the builder won’t give up, they have to pay double or triple the price to construct it. That’s the game the radicals are playing. 
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is leading a 21-state coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Department of Energy efficiency standards adopted during the dark Biden years that effectively ban many natural gas furnaces and water heaters. Challenging a D.C. Circuit ruling, the states argue the mandate violates federal law by eliminating appliances with protected performance characteristics. McCuskey emphasizes that the rule would disproportionately burden low-income and rural families, forcing expensive structural renovations in older homes incompatible with new condensing technology. 
Ohio’s Revised Code Section 5303.34 (part of House Bill 96, recently passed and signed into law) significantly shifts mineral trespass law, favoring oil and gas operators over landowners. Replacing common-law precedent, the new statute limits default damages to net revenue minus production costs, ensuring industry expense credits. Crucially, it creates a high bar for “bad faith,” requiring plaintiffs (landowners and rights owners) to prove an operator’s specific intent to steal minerals or actual knowledge of illegality. Since a “reasonable belief” in a lease or permit now negates bad faith, landowners face a difficult path to full revenue recovery. 
The Texas Eastern Transmission Pipeline (TETCO), operated by Enbridge, is a major 8,580-mile interstate natural gas system connecting Gulf Coast/Texas supplies to the Northeast US. Originally designed for northbound flow, it now heavily supports bidirectional, southbound, and regional supply, including Marcellus/Utica gas. A short 5.3-mile section of TETCO (actually four separate pipelines that make up TETCO) running through Greene County, PA, needs a fix to protect it from coal mining activities set to begin directly underneath the pipeline in that area. 
One of the environmental left’s favorite tactics to defeat fossil fuel projects is to challenge every single infrastructure project (pipeline or otherwise) connected to fossil energy at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). As soon as a company files an application to build a new project and FERC approves it, Big Green will challenge it first at FERC and eventually in court. FERC had an internal rule, called Order No. 871, that states a company cannot begin construction (even though FERC has approved the certificate) until all such legal challenges are resolved, which can take YEARS. Which is the point—delay, and eventually, some of the projects will give up and won’t be built. Run out the clock. In October, FERC issued a new rule eliminating the Order No. 871 rule, meaning construction can now begin months and years sooner, even while appeals continue (see 
Today, we revisit a topic that (at first glance) is a bit complex: a federal EPA regulation called Subpart OOOOc (“Quad O”), which addresses methane emissions from existing sources. Under the Biden administration, Quad O was twisted and used in an attempt to force oil and gas drillers, especially small conventional drillers, out of business. The policy was set, and the individual states were instructed to bring their own regulations and policies into compliance. But then the Democrats lost the White House. No worries…the Dems running the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) eagerly developed onerous regs to comply with the Biden EPA’s Quad O standards. The DEP’s regs are ready to go and could be adopted at any time. However, the Trump EPA delayed implementation of Quad O until 2027 while it works to revise or scrap it. 
Yeah, well, you knew this was coming. Last week, President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the “largest deregulatory action in American history” by officially revoking the Obama EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” (see 
In June 2023, Dominion Energy announced plans to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County near Richmond (see 
Antero Resources Corporation has reached a proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the state of West Virginia to resolve Clean Air Act violations at 242 oil and gas facilities in West Virginia and Ohio. To address unauthorized volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, Antero will invest approximately $5.8 million in system improvements and monitoring, reducing annual emissions by over 1,100 tons. The company will also pay a $3.8 million civil penalty and spend $1.5 million to permanently plug and remediate abandoned wells in WV. Total price tag: $11.1 million. 
Last week, MDN told you that Maryland State Senator Kevin Harris (Democrat) had recently introduced legislation allowing Big Utilities, such as Exelon, to build and operate power-generation infrastructure using ratepayer funds. We also presented the counterargument to re-regulating what is now a deregulated power market in Maryland (see 
President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the “largest deregulatory action in American history” yesterday by officially revoking the Obama EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding.” This move eliminates the legal mandate for the federal government to regulate greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The administration claims the rollback will save taxpayers over $1.3 trillion and reduce vehicle prices by approximately $2,400 by stripping away emission standards for cars and trucks. More importantly, it takes away the left’s ability to block coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. While Trump hailed the decision as a victory for consumer choice and the economy, anti-fossil fuel fanatics vowed to challenge the repeal in court. 
PJM Interconnection, the electrical grid operator that covers Pennsylvania (along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia), has once again caved to the political demands of PA Gov. Josh Shapiro to artificially cap prices in its upcoming capacity auctions for the next two years. PJM caved for the July 2025 auction (see 
Virginia Senate Bill 253, introduced by State Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), aims to shift energy infrastructure costs from residents to data centers, potentially saving households a whopping $65 annually. The legislation requires data centers—which account for 20% of Dominion Energy’s sales—to fund their own electrical substations and cover specific “capacity costs.” If the bill becomes law and the proposals in it receive approval from the State Corporation Commission (SCC), the typical monthly energy bill for data centers would rise by about 16%, while the typical bill for residential and other customers would decrease by 3% to 3.5%. Looks like Virginia, with more data centers than any other state in the union, is now closed for data center business. Too bad. 
In December, MDN told you that three anti-shale drilling groups—the PA Council of Trout Unlimited, the Keystone Trails Association, and the Responsible Drilling Alliance—requested the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) hold a hearing on the Chapter 105 permit requested for a 3.9-mile shale gas access road and staging area proposed by PA General Energy (PGE) in the Loyalsock State Forest (see