Maryland Loses Fight to Block Tiny Pipe Under Potomac River
We finally have some good news to share concerning Columbia Gas’ project to build a tiny 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline under the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia. The project, called the Eastern Panhandle Expansion, has been blocked repeatedly by leftwing wackos in Maryland (see Fed Judge Upholds Maryland Decision to Block Pipe Under Potomac). Maryland used the same flawed legal argument that New Jersey used to block the PennEast Pipeline — that eminent domain can’t be used against land owned or controlled by a state. PennEast won its case against NJ in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 (see PennEast Pipeline Squeaks Out 5-4 Supreme Court Victory Over NJ). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) ruled on Wednesday, using the PennEast case as precedent, that Maryland could not claim immunity from eminent domain.
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Feedgas flows from the Marcellus/Utica to the Cove Point LNG export facility located on the shore of Maryland fell to zero yesterday. It was the start of the facility’s annual maintenance outage. The question is, how long will Cove Point be out of commission for liquefying and exporting LNG? There are conflicting reports. Last year, the facility was closed from Oct. 1-27 — nearly a month! In most years, the closure lasts around three weeks (
In July 2020, Dominion Energy announced it had decided to exit the natural gas pipeline business by selling it to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy (see 
Just two weeks ago, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) told all water users in the basin that have withdrawal permits, including shale drillers, they should review those permits, and if there are restrictions for withdrawals during low streamflow conditions, they need to make alternative plans (see 
That was fast. Yesterday we told you that newly-elected Maryland Gov. Wes Moore had nominated someone who actually knows something about the energy industry, from the American Gas Association, to be a member of the Maryland Public Service Commission (see 
On January 18, 2022, Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company (ESNG, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate a new natural gas-fired compressor unit and ancillary facilities at its existing Bridgeville Compressor Station in Sussex County, Delaware (called the Southern Expansion Project). Right away, the odious radicals of Food and Water Watch filed an official protest. It took nearly a year, but (as we’re just learning now) on Dec. 16, FERC issued full approval for the project. The new compressor unit will flow an extra 7.3 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) of natural gas to new residential, commercial, and industrial customers along the Delmarva Peninsula.
Yet another area heavily infested with far-left Democrats has voted to abolish the freedom of residents to choose their own energy source. The Montgomery County (Maryland) County Council voted 9-0 (all nine are Dems) to ban new natural gas hookups beginning in 2026. Montgomery County is a suburb of the D.C. swamp (lots of swamp dwellers in Montgomery). The County Executive, also a Dem, said he supports the ban and will sign it into law. This is what happens under one-party rule when that party doesn’t give a damn about the poor people and people of color who will end up being most affected by such a ban.
Bloomberg is reporting that “sources” are chattering that Dominion Energy, the majority owner of Cove Point, Maryland, LNG export facility with a 50% stake in the plant, is considering selling its stake. In July 2020, Dominion sold its natural gas pipeline business along with a 25% stake in Cove Point to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathway (see 
Located in Lusby, Maryland, Cove Point LNG is the first major LNG export facility to locate on the East Coast. It is recognized as one of the most technically advanced and environmentally sensitive LNG facilities in the world. The Cove Point LNG Terminal has a storage capacity of 14.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) and a daily send-out capacity of 1.8 Bcf. The owners/managers of Cove Point recently filed a preliminary request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to increase export capacity by an extra 20 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) by installing a small liquefaction unit to capture “boil off gas” the plant currently evaporates during normal operations.