PA PUC Officially Adopts High Tax on New Data Centers
Last November, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved a Tentative Order by a 3-2 vote, proposing a statewide model tariff (tax) to manage the growing impact of large-load customers, such as AI data centers, on the electric grid (see PA PUC Votes 3-2 to Levy New Taxes & Regs on AI Data Centers). The stated goal of the new tariff is to encourage investment and job growth while protecting existing ratepayers from cost-shifts and ensuring reliability. The PUC failed. The proposed order was passed on a partisan basis, with the three Democrat commissioners voting to make it harder and more expensive for data centers to locate in the Keystone State, potentially jeopardizing $92 billion of investments promised to the state related to data centers. The PUC published its flawed proposal in the November 22 Pennsylvania Bulletin, kicking off a 30-day comment period as a prelude to final adoption (see PA PUC Continues Down Road to Taxation Perdition re Data Centers). Read More “PA PUC Officially Adopts High Tax on New Data Centers”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been blaming the PJM Interconnection grid for the soaring costs of electricity when his own policies are to blame, even threatening to pull out of the cooperative (see 
The Philadelphia Gas Commission, for a second time, has postponed a vote on Philadelphia Gas Works’ (PGW) $182 million proposal to replace and expand its natural gas liquefier (LNG plant) in Port Richmond. The commission’s staff and the Public Advocate recommend rejecting the project, arguing it is oversized and could burden customers with unnecessary debt. They also cite incomplete plant and project designs. PGW argues the upgrade is crucial for safety and affordability, preventing potential harm to customers during cold winters and avoiding the need to truck in liquefied natural gas (LNG). Instead of approving the project, the Commission voted to spend $1 million on an environmental impact study and $4 million for an engineering study. That is, they voted to procrastinate. 
At a Pennsylvania DEP hearing in Indiana County, environmental extremists opposed a proposed 5.8-mile, 30-inch natural gas pipeline serving Homer City Redevelopment’s planned $10 billion, 4.5-GW gas-fired power plant and hyperscale data center campus. The pipeline would cross streams, wetlands, and floodways, potentially affecting Muddy Run, Blacklick Creek, and various tributaries. Reminding us of Chicken Little in The Sky is Falling, speakers warned of water pollution, setbacks to acid mine drainage restoration, drought-related water stress, and inadequate transparency around the fast-moving project. 
Last 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 Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) in the Loyalsock State Forest (see 
The federal EPA has proposed new rules allowing gas-fired power plants, data centers, and factories to begin constructing non-polluting components like piping, wiring, and cement pads before receiving air emission permits. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that this aims to streamline critical infrastructure projects and advance technological development, particularly for AI. Critics, including Big Green lawyers, argue these changes undermine the Clean Air Act by making it harder for communities to “protect air quality.” More importantly, Big Green says it will make it harder for regulators to reject permits after significant investment has already been made. Well, duh! That’s the point. 
Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island LNG, which accepts and liquefies Marcellus/Utica molecules just offshore from Savannah, Georgia, received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in November 2024 to expand the facility to produce an extra 0.4 million metric tons/year (see 
In April, MDN reported that anti-fossil fuel fanatics had not yet given up on trying to block construction of the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline, a $1 billion+ project designed to increase Transco pipeline capacity and flows of Marcellus gas heading into New York City and other northeastern markets. Even though there was an official groundbreaking ceremony at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field in New York City in April, antis are still doing their best to block this project. They pinned one of their last hopes on a relatively obscure state agency in New Jersey, pressuring it to refuse to issue a license for the project (see 
New research by the Commonwealth Foundation finds that Pennsylvania’s foolish pursuit of joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax scheme, led to a loss of $5 to $8 billion in energy sector investment over six years, stalling power projects and reducing electricity generation capacity. The state’s attempt to join RGGI, initiated by executive order under then-Governor Tom Wolf, was ultimately overturned by the courts and (eventually) by legislative action, citing it as an unconstitutional tax. Meanwhile, neighboring Ohio, not part of RGGI, saw an increase in energy projects, highlighting the differing regulatory environments. 
The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations begin in earnest next year. Domestic (European) oil, gas, and coal companies must monitor, measure, and report their emissions. The same restrictions will apply to energy imports from other countries, including imports from the U.S. (see 
Yet another rankly hypocritical move by the Democrats in the Pennsylvania legislature. Yesterday, every single Democrat in the PA House voted in lockstep (as they typically do, under the leadership’s complete control) to pass House Bill (HB) 2076, titled “Advancing Geothermal Energy Development.” The Dems were assisted by 16 Republicans who were (charitably) hoodwinked. No matter. The bill won’t pass in the Senate. But why point out this vote? Because the “advanced” geothermal energy that the House wants to promote and regulate uses the very same drilling rigs and fracking as is used to drill in the Marcellus shale, revealing the hypocritical lies of the Democrat left in demonizing fracking. But there’s another reason we’re highlighting this news: The environmental left (including House Democrats) is seeking to increase drilling setbacks in the state from 500 feet to 3,281 feet (and, in some cases, 5,280 feet). Do the House Dems realize the new setbacks would not only ban ALL shale fracking in the state but also all geothermal fracking? 
This is a critical moment for reliable, affordable energy in the Northeast, and your voice can make a difference. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is currently accepting public comments on the Constitution Pipeline, representing an important step toward finally advancing this long-delayed project and a key opportunity for supporters to be heard. If you support building the Constitution Pipeline, please take a few minutes to submit a brief comment to FERC by May 4, 2026, because your input truly matters. We have instructions below on how to file a comment (it takes just a couple of minutes). 
In December, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) accepted a petition by radical green groups, including the Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project, to “study” the issue of increasing setbacks for shale drilling so far that it would ban ALL new Marcellus/Utica drilling in the Keystone State, which is no exaggeration (see 
We’ve been tracking a story that we consider an ongoing tragedy for more than a decade. American Water Management Services (AWMS) owns a wastewater injection well in Trumbull County, Ohio, that supposedly caused a low-level earthquake (that nobody could feel) in 2014. Actually, there are two injection wells located at the site, both operated by AWMS. They were both “temporarily” shut down by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) following the quake nobody could feel (see