FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects
Last Thursday, Norman Bay, one of three Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) Commissioners, announced he would resign effective Feb. 3–this Friday. His unexpected resignation directly threatens a number of critical pipeline projects in the Marcellus/Utica. It appears to us to be a revenge resignation–an attempt to screw the Trump Administration. Bay is a Democrat. In fact, all three sitting FERC Commissioners are Democrats. FERC is supposed to have five Commissioners–but there have been two empty slots since last September when Republican Tony Clark left. Last week President Donald Trump announced he would elevate sitting Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur to become Chairman of the Commission, replacing Bay in that role. It should be noted LaFleur has been on the Commission since 2010 and has been, at various times, Acting Chairman and full Chairman. In fact, Norm Bay was elevated by Obama to become Chairman, replacing LaFleur in that role. Did LaFluer leave in a huff? No. She stayed to do the important work of the Commission. Now that the roles are reversed, Bay seems to be bent on revenge against Trump–placing important pipeline projects in danger of not getting timely approvals. It takes three members to have a quorum, to approve projects. Some (including THE Delaware Riverkeeper) are pushing for a block on new appointments to FERC–meaning FERC’s work stops cold. Three critically urgent M-U projects have asked FERC to approve their projects THIS WEEK, before Bay leaves: NEXUS (Spectra Energy), Leach XPress (Columbia Pipeline/TransCanada), and Atlantic Sunrise (Williams)…
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Can you smell it? We sure can. It’s called hope. Not even a full week in the new Trump Administration, hope can be found everywhere. Liberal Democrats still aren’t sure what hit them. Let us help. It’s competence. It’s someone who gives a damn about the average American. It’s someone who believes the country, as it was founded, is the best country in the world. Donald J. Trump. He’s blown into Washington, DC like a hurricane and things are changing so fast most of us can’t keep up. Case in point: On Tuesday, Trump’s second full day on the job (last Friday and the weekend don’t count), Trump signed an Executive Order “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects.” What are ‘high priority infrastructure projects’? A document has leaked, originally compiled by Trump’s transition team, of 50 ‘Emergency & National Security Projects’ that are infrastructure projects–projects the Trump Administration believes should be worked on immediately. Project #20 in the list is Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. Number 20! How cool is that? No, this doesn’t mean Trump can simply order it approved like some sovereign or tinpot dictator. Our rules and laws must be followed. What it does mean is that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will now receive enormous pressure to quit dragging its feet and to “fast track” the review for ACP. It means hope on now on the horizon…
The issue of “setbacks” has always been a contentious issue when it comes to oil and gas drilling. A setback is the distance from a well to nearby structures–like water wells, homes, schools, whatever. In Pennsylvania the state law requires a minimum of 500 feet between a well and nearby structures. But here’s the thing: Do you measure the distance (as drillers maintain) from the bore hole drilled into the ground? Or from the edge of the well pad? A pad is typically 3-5 acres, and if you measure from the edge of the pad, the “actual” distance from the well to a nearby structure may be 1,000 feet instead of 500 feet. Some argue that measuring from the edge of the pad makes more sense–to protect nearby residents from noise, lights, air emissions, etc. But drillers in some locations are hamstrung, especially if the the location where they drill is on a slope or other tough terrain. Measuring from the edge of the pad may mean not drilling at all. It is that very issue now being debated in Murrysville, in Westmoreland County, PA (near Pittsburgh). It is a wisdom of Solomon kind of issue…
In May 2015 Obama’s rogue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act (see 
Although antis have tried to block major pipeline upgrades in the northeast/New England region, Spectra Energy continues to have success with building and completing its projects. Recently Spectra’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project, which built ~37 miles of new pipeline and half a dozen new compressor stations along the Alogonquin Gas Transmission pipeline, went into service (see 
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the Buffalo-based utility giant with both a drilling subsidiary (Seneca Resources) and a midstream/pipeline subsidiary (Empire Pipeline) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March 2015 for a pipeline project they call Northern Access 2016 (later renamed to simply Northern Access Project, dropping the “2016” part). The $455 million project includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton (see 
On Monday the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, which oversees a stand of scrub pines in South Jersey, held a public hearing to listen to comments on a plan to build a 22-mile pipeline through the scrub pines, burying it alongside the road so as to not disturb any spindly trees. The pipeline will supply clean-burning natural gas to a power plant currently fed by coal, cleaning up the air and lowering CO2 emissions. But dunderheads in the area are still opposed–largely incited by radical environmental groups like the NJ Sierra Club and the odious Food & Water Watch, who spread lies about the project. So many people turned up for the meeting, it maxed out the meeting room of 260 and some had to wait outside in the rain (which didn’t sit well with the pampered snowflakes). Predictably many who showed up wanted to go on record as opposed to the project. Isn’t that always the case? It’s easy to motivate people to attend a meeting when they’re against something–much harder to attract people who support something. At any rate, the surprising thing about yesterday’s meeting were the many people who turned out to support the pipeline. Also predictable, at least one anti (from the odious Food & Water Watch) couldn’t contain herself and had to be ejected for disrupting the meeting…
President Trump is wasting no time in correcting the mistakes of the Obama Administration. Yesterday Trump signed a pair of Executive Orders meant to restart and advance the XL Keystone Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline projects. The orders include a requirement that the pipes manufactured for the projects be manufactured right here at home, in the U.S. The orders in no way require the projects to get completed, they are simply meant to help clear regulatory hurdles so the projects’ builders can get moving again. Predictably the action is making radical fossil fuel haters apoplectic…
PennEast Pipeline is a very important $1 billion, 118-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that will get built from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. It will feed local utilities and power generation plants along its route. In April 2016 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which oversees permitting for the pipeline, told PennEast the agency would extend the amount of time they are taking until December 2016, rather than the original target of August, to complete their environmental review (see 
Yesterday the U.S. Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final “rule” (actually 31 pages of rules, which we’ve included below) in the Federal Register, which will become law (i.e. official regulation) on March 24th. The new “rule” requires pipeline operators to report incidents or accidents by phone within one hour of when they become aware of the incident/accident. It also steps up drug and alcohol testing requirements for workers. Here’s the latest in unlegislated laws to come down from on (Washington, DC) high…
Well that didn’t take long. Immediately, as soon as Donald J. Trump was sworn into office on Friday at noon, key changes were made to the official White House website. Among them: the page touting man-made global warming nonsense (i.e. “climate change”) came down, and up went Trump’s “America First Energy Plan” instead. Trump’s plan? Support shale, dump Obama’s so-called climate plan, and refocus the EPA. Slap me! Am I dreaming? Will I wake up and find Lord Obama is still in charge? Or worse yet, that Hillary is President? No! Trump won, and the best possible outcome is now happening for American energy (including shale energy) and the American people. A true “all of the above” strategy from Team Trump. Below is a copy of Trump’s energy plan and some of the hysterical reaction by radical environmentalists…
MDN has previously reported on a $900 million natural gas-fired electric generating plant coming to Orange County, NY (see 
Two weeks ago MDN told you about an effort in Virginia to ensure new changes in Virginia’s environmental regulations that require “mandatory disclosure of fracking chemicals, baseline water testing and monitoring, and spill prevention and response planning” would still protect trade secrets–the exact combinations of chemicals used by drillers when fracking (see