Taxation

Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

President Trump Signs Congress Resolution Overturning Methane Tax
March 18, 2025March 18, 2025

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) with President Donald Trump at the White House signing ceremony.

After the shocking news in 2022 that then-U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill (better named the Green New Scam), the details began to come out about just how bad the bill (now law) really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slapped a new methane tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). Endless lawsuits and regulatory challenges ensued. However, on their way out the door late last year, the Bidenistas pulled the trigger and implemented the tax (see Parting Shot: Biden-Harris EPA Slaps $1,500/Ton Tax on Methane). The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate voted to overturn Biden’s methane tax in late February (see House & Senate Vote to Overturn Biden IRA Methane Tax, Trump to Sign). On Friday, at a special ceremony at the White House, President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the methane tax. VICTORY! Read More “President Trump Signs Congress Resolution Overturning Methane Tax”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Philly Dem Says Impact Fee Ripping Off PA, Wants Severance Tax
March 13, 2025March 17, 2025

Every year that former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf governed, he requested (and was denied) the addition of a severance tax on oil and natural gas production in the Keystone State. The Democrats in PA have insisted, on and off, on slapping a severance tax on top of the existing impact “fee” (i.e., tax) since the Act 13 law was passed in 2012 (see Gov. Corbett Signs New Marcellus Drilling Law). The issue of a severance tax on production came up again at an appropriations committee hearing yesterday in Harrisburg. State Senator Art Haywood, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said drillers are ripping off Pennsylvania and that the impact fee revenue is far less than would be revenue from a severance tax. [UPDATE: We have included a letter sent by the Marcellus Shale Coalition to Sen. Haywood below, setting the record straight.] Read More “Philly Dem Says Impact Fee Ripping Off PA, Wants Severance Tax”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Statewide VA | Taxation | Virginia

Judge Rules Virginia Can Stay Out of RGGI Carbon Tax…For Now
March 11, 2025March 11, 2025

click for larger version

Last November, a Floyd County Circuit Court judge ruled Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s effort to remove his state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme was not legal—therefore the state would, for now, remain in the carbon tax club (see Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax). Youngkin promised to appeal the decision, which he did. Last week, the same court temporarily suspended its November decision that forced Virginia back into RGGI while the appeal continues. So for now, Virginia is not collecting the RGGI fee from power producers. Read More “Judge Rules Virginia Can Stay Out of RGGI Carbon Tax…For Now”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Taxation

House & Senate Vote to Overturn Biden IRA Methane Tax, Trump to Sign
February 28, 2025February 28, 2025

After the shocking news in 2022 that then-U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill, the details began to come out about just how bad the bill (now law) really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slapped a new methane tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). Endless lawsuits and regulatory challenges ensued. However, on their way out the door late last year, the Bidenistas pulled the trigger and implemented the tax (see Parting Shot: Biden-Harris EPA Slaps $1,500/Ton Tax on Methane). This week both the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate voted to overturn Biden’s methane tax. The bill now heads to Trump’s desk for a swift signature. Joe’s methane tax is DEAD. Read More “House & Senate Vote to Overturn Biden IRA Methane Tax, Trump to Sign”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov. Shapiro Signals Levying New Annual Tax on Shale Operators
February 17, 2025February 17, 2025

Last December, MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection could find $600,000 to blow on “environmental justice” nonsense, but the very next day, it cried poverty that there’s not enough money in the budget to fund the Oil and Gas Regulatory Program (see PA DEP Gives Away $600K for Woke EJ; Next Day Claims “Funding Gap”). The illustrious Governor of the Commonwealth has the perfect solution to plug the so-called budget gap: Slap a NEW tax on shale drillers. Read More “PA Gov. Shapiro Signals Levying New Annual Tax on Shale Operators”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Taxation

2 Serious Bills in Congress to Overturn Biden Methane Tax
February 10, 2025February 10, 2025

In 2022, after the shocking news that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill, the details began to come out about just how bad the bill really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slaps a new tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). On their way out the door, the Biden-Harris losers made the tax official (see Parting Shot: Biden-Harris EPA Slaps $1,500/Ton Tax on Methane). There are two serious bills in Congress to reverse this madness. Read More “2 Serious Bills in Congress to Overturn Biden Methane Tax”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA PUC Publishes Fee Schedule for Marcellus Impact Fee/Tax 2024
February 3, 2025February 3, 2025

In December, Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO), the agency charged with providing revenue projections along with impartial and objective analysis of fiscal, economic, and budgetary issues for the citizens and legislature of Pennsylvania, provided its best guess as to how much revenue the PA impact fee (i.e., severance tax) will generate from shale wells drilled or flowing in 2024 (see PA IFO Predicts Impact Tax Revenue to Drop 9% in 2024). The IFO bases its projections on the number of wells and the assessment for each well according to how many years it has been drilled. The agency that publishes the fees to be assessed for each well is the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC). The PUC published the official list of impact fee charges for 2024 in last Saturday’s PA Bulletin. Read More “PA PUC Publishes Fee Schedule for Marcellus Impact Fee/Tax 2024”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov. Shapiro Again Pushes Big Carbon Tax as Part of Energy Plan
January 31, 2025January 31, 2025

Pennsylvania’s do-nothing Governor, Josh Shapiro, traveled to Pittsburgh yesterday to put on another shuck-and-jive all-sizzle-no-steak show. He was there to unveil what he calls his “Lightning Plan” for energy in the state. His big plan? Reintroduce and try to bully Republicans into accepting a Marcellus-killing carbon tax and onerous regulations on emissions (called PACER, see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version of Marcellus-Killing Carbon Tax). His plan didn’t fly in March of last year and won’t fly again this year. But that didn’t stop the shuckin’ and jivin’ by Shapiro. Read More “PA Gov. Shapiro Again Pushes Big Carbon Tax as Part of Energy Plan”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Landowners Get Tax Break for Well Depletion Starting This Year
January 23, 2025January 23, 2025

Pennsylvania mineral rights owners (i.e., landowners) now have a well-deserved tax break thanks to a bill passed by the PA legislature and signed into law last summer (see New PA Bill Gives Shale Landowners Same Tax Breaks as Investors). Under Senate Bill (SB) 654, individual landowners receive the same tax benefits afforded to investors. If a company buys mineral rights and the right to receive royalty payments from oil and gas well production, the company, under IRS rules, gets to claim a simple percentage depletion allowance. Essentially, the company only pays income tax on 85% of the royalties it receives. Under SB 654, that same allowance (beginning with taxes filed in 2025 for 2024) applies to landowners in PA. Read More “PA Landowners Get Tax Break for Well Depletion Starting This Year”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Taxation

The Legal Case Against NY Law Taxing O&G $75B for Global Warming
January 13, 2025January 13, 2025

Not only did New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist liberal, sign a ban on using carbon dioxide to frack wells in the state at the last minute before the end of the current legislative session (see New York Has Fallen: Gov. Hochul Signs CO2 Frack Ban Into Law), she followed it up by signing into law a new climate bill forcing fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion in “recovery” assessments over the next 25 years for their alleged role in causing “extreme weather” (see NY Gov. Hochul Goes Nuts: Signs Law Billing O&G Companies $75B). A Forbes article discusses how the NY law is completely unconstitutional and illegal. Read More “The Legal Case Against NY Law Taxing O&G $75B for Global Warming”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Taxation

New Jersey Readies Massive New Tax on Oil & Gas Facilities
December 12, 2024December 12, 2024

You can’t fix stupid. You can only vote it out of office. From the outskirts of New York to the Delaware River shoreline across from Philadelphia, New Jersey is home to numerous oil and natural gas facilities. A New Jersey Senate committee is seriously discussing (planning) an insane new tax on those facilities as a way of creating a slush fund supposedly to help the state fight the effects of climate change. It would be just another pile of money for corrupt politicians to line their own (and friends’) pockets with. Hello, Tony Soprano! Read More “New Jersey Readies Massive New Tax on Oil & Gas Facilities”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA IFO Predicts Impact Tax Revenue to Drop 9% in 2024
December 10, 2024December 10, 2024

Pennsylvania assesses an impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) on shale drillers, raising revenues that are paid to local municipalities and the black hole of Harrisburg politicians. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) issued an estimate for how much the impact fee will raise this year, which will be distributed next year. The IFO says it thinks, based on the price of low natural gas and the number of new and existing wells, that PA will generate $163.8 million from the impact fee in 2024, a decrease of $15.8 million (8.8%) from 2023. Looking back further, the price is down $115.1 million (41%) from 2022. Why did impact fee revenues drop so dramatically over the past two years? Read More “PA IFO Predicts Impact Tax Revenue to Drop 9% in 2024”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Statewide VA | Taxation | Virginia

Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax
November 21, 2024November 21, 2024

In 2021, as he was running for Governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin pledged that if he won, he would remove the state from the onerous carbon tax on coal- and gas-fired power plants called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Youngkin kept his promise, although it took longer than he had hoped. Unfortunately, the left-leaning (very partisan) Association of Energy Conservation Professionals sued. The judge in the case just ruled the way Youngkin removed the state from RGGI was unlawful and that the state must (for now) remain in the high-tax, onerous organization. Read More “Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Bill Denies Impact Fees to Shale-Hostile Municipalities
November 12, 2024November 12, 2024

In May, MDN told you that several Republican Pennsylvania State Senators were planning to introduce a bill to cut off millions of dollars in impact fee revenues to municipalities that set protective standards on the development of natural gas that “imposes a standard or condition on well development that conflicts with or exceeds those contained” in state law (see PA Bill Cuts Off Impact Tax Revenue to Municipalities that Sue O&G). The bill was officially introduced last week. Read More “PA Bill Denies Impact Fees to Shale-Hostile Municipalities”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Senate Votes to Cancel State Participation in RGGI Carbon Tax
September 18, 2024September 18, 2024

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Bill (SB) 1058 that would repeal the state’s participation in the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an illegal carbon tax enacted via executive order by then Gov. Tom Wolf in 2019 (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). Republican Senators voted in favor, and Democrat Senators voted against the bill. Dems love to tax things like CO2 (the stuff you breathe out with every breath). Go figure. Read More “PA Senate Votes to Cancel State Participation in RGGI Carbon Tax”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

RGGI Carbon Tax on Track to Hit New All-Time High of $27/Allowance
September 5, 2024September 5, 2024

In 2019, when then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would unilaterally force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax scheme aimed at forcing coal- and gas-fired plants out of business, he claimed the tax would only amount to a few dollars per allowance (or “short ton”) of CO2 (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). That lie was exposed early on when, in March 2021, the price per allowance for CO2 under RGGI soared to $7.60 (see RGGI Carbon Tax Hits All-Time High – Gas-Fired Plants Close). Since then, it’s only continued to increase. S&P Global said the quarterly auction held yesterday was on track to clear $27 per allowance!! Read More “RGGI Carbon Tax on Track to Hit New All-Time High of $27/Allowance”