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Michigan Utility Trading Coal for Gas-Fired Electric Plants

Consumers Energy, Michigan’s second-largest power provider, will quit burning coal to produce electricity by 2025 and instead will purchase four existing natural gas-fired power plants for $1.3 billion. At least if the company can get approval from state regulators. The company says buying existing gas-fired plants (instead of building new plants) will help it transition to carbonless energy over the next 20 years. Buying instead of building means the company won’t have “stranded assets” when (we say if) they eventually foreswear using fossil fuels to generate electricity.
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ET Asks Judge to Dismiss Mich. Activist Lawsuit Against Rover Pipe

In late 2018 the final two segments of the already-operational Rover Pipeline went online, making the project 100% complete (see FERC OKs Final 2 Rover Pipeline Laterals – Now 100% Online). Rover is a 713-mile, 3.25 Bcf/d natural gas pipeline that transports domestically produced natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica production areas to markets across the United States as well as to the Union Gas Dawn Storage Hub in Ontario, Canada. Although completed and running for years, the pipeline still faces a few lingering lawsuits over its construction.
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Converted Ethane Pipeline to Flow M-U Propane Across Michigan

Michigan Express Pipeline map (click for larger version)

Silver Wolf Midstream, a new company with offices in Michigan and Texas, is in the final stages of buying and will soon convert an existing 225-mile, 8-inch coated steel ethane pipeline in Michigan. The pipeline, to be renamed the Michigan Express Pipeline, will be repurposed to flow propane instead of ethane. We wouldn’t be interested in this project if not for the fact there’s a Marcellus/Utica connection.
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What Caused the MI NatGas Compressor Stn Fire in January?

You may recall MDN covering the story of the compressor station in Michigan that caught fire and exploded in January (see Michigan NatGas Compressor Station Catches Fire, Explodes). That single compressor (single point of failure, as it turns out) is responsible for pumping natgas to two-thirds of Michigan residents. After a two-month investigation, the station’s owner says it knows what happened, which can be summed up as a series of unfortunate events.
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Rover Pipe Paid $73M in Property Taxes Last Year, $180M This Year

One of the arguments often heard from those who oppose natural gas pipelines is that “nobody” benefits from the pipeline except the sleazy Big Corporation that builds and profits from it. A single pipeline running through Ohio and Michigan puts that lie to rest. Rover Pipeline, built and operated by Energy Transfer, paid out some $73 million in local property taxes in 2018 when the pipeline first began operation. For 2019, with the full pipeline operating at 100% capacity for the entire year, Rover says they will pay out ~$180 million in property taxes! Taxes that fund schools, roads, first responders and other worthy causes.
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MI NatGas Compressor Stn Fire Leads to GM, Ford Plant Closures

Last week a pipeline at a single Michigan compressor station caught fire and exploded (see Michigan NatGas Compressor Station Catches Fire, Explodes). That single compressor (single point of failure, as it turns out) is responsible for pumping natgas to two-thirds of Michigan residents, including all those big automobile assembly plants Michigan is famous for.
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NEXUS Pipeline Asks FERC for Sept 28 Startup to Flow 967 MMcf/d

At the end of July NEXUS Pipeline was 80% complete and made big boasts that it would be ready to flow during the third quarter of this year (see NEXUS Pipeline Update – Now 80% Complete, on Schedule for 3Q18). By golly, they are true to their word. Earlier this week NEXUS told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) they are ready to go, and asked permission to begin service by September 28, flowing 967 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) along the pipeline that will eventually carry 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The NEXUS Pipeline project is owned by DTE Energy and Spectra Energy (Enbridge). It is a $2 billion, 258-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Columbiana County in eastern Ohio across Ohio to an interconnection with DTE Gas in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Eventually, via the Vector Pipeline, gas from NEXUS will flow to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. Radical environmental groups fought the project tooth and nail. CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus), and the far-left Sierra Club, launched multiple lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. We’re happy to report they lost. And now NEXUS is ready to flow…
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Enviros Oppose U of Michigan Plan to Use Gas-Fired Electricity

Is there any fixing stupid? We suppose not. So-called environmentalists are opposing a plan by the University of Michigan to update the main campus’ Central Power Plant with a natural-gas fired turbine to produce electricity for the Central and Medical Campus buildings. By doing so, the University will leapfrog to achieving 50% of its goal to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 (seven short years from now). Put another way, by building this gas turbine and using the electricity it generates, the University of Michigan will be halfway to their emissions reductions goals. One turbine. Clean natural gas. It’s a win/win all the way around. Yet environuts oppose the plan because it is a “long-term investment in fossil fuels.” Again we ask, is there any fixing stupid?…
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Michigan Town Signs with BP to Supply Natgas to Power Plant

Any time a new natural gas-fired power plant is announced in the northeast, southeast, or Midwest, we’re interested. Why? Because they are gas-hungry beasts, using huge quantities of natural gas. And chances are plants in those regions could (likely do) use Marcellus/Utica Shale gas to power them–at least in part. They are an important new source of demand for our gas. Often overlooked are existing gas-fired power plants, especially those that don’t run 24/7/365. They’re an important market for our gas too. We spotted a story about one such plant, in Marquette County, Michigan. Tuesday afternoon the Marquette Board of Light and Power board approved a new natural gas wholesale price agreement for the Marquette Energy Center–a small 54 megawatt generator that runs from 7am to 10pm each day. Plants typically don’t cut deals with drillers directly. Instead, they buy gas on contract from a broker, a “gas marketer” that buys and sells natural gas. Three of the four companies bidding on the Marquette Energy Center contract are on a list of the Top 25 North American Gas Marketers, a list tabulated and published quarterly by our friends at NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence). In fact, the top gas marketer in the country (has been for years) is the company that won the Marquette contract–BP…
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DTE Energy’s Michigan Gas-Fired Plant Breaks Ground Today

Click for larger version

Last June DTE Energy filed paperwork in Michigan to build a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas-fired power plant in St. Clair County (see DTE Energy Files to Build New Natgas-Fired Elec Plant in Michigan). The gas-fired plant will produce 1,150 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 850,000 homes, helping to offset three coal-fired plants set to retire by 2023. Environmental groups launched a campaign to oppose the project (see Michigan Anti Fossil Fuelers Oppose DTE Gas-Fired Plant Proposal), but their efforts were too little too late. In April, the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the project (see List of 6 NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Coming to Michigan). The plant project has a name–the Blue Water Energy Center. Today is the day DTE Energy, the builder, will officially break ground for Blue Water Energy Center. Ahead of schedule! Why our excitement over this project? There is a considerable amount of Utica/Marcellus gas heading into Michigan via the Rover and NEXUS pipelines. Blue Water Energy is a potential (we’d say likely) customer for M-U gas supplies…
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M-U Gas Now Travels to Dawn Hub in Canada via Rover Pipeline

Click map for larger version

Last Thursday, May 24, Energy Transfer Partners requested (frankly, begged) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve final startup for the rest of Rover Pipeline not yet flowing–by June 1st. ET has contracts to honor and they promised shippers the full pipeline would be up and running by June 1st. ET requested permission to start up the “Majorsville Lateral, Supply Connector Line B, and Mainline B between CS1 and CS2 and between CS3 and the terminus,” along with a request to begin flowing on the “Burgettstown Lateral.” Note that some of the project has two pipelines, side by side (the Mainline and Supply Connector). ET asked that the second pipes in both cases be allowed to start up, along with the Majorsville and Burgettstown Laterals (see the map). ET got some of what it wanted–everything but permission to start up the laterals–yesterday from FERC. With the startup of Mainline B and Supply Connector B, ET says the Rover Pipeline project is now capable of flowing the full 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of natgas all the way to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. The only “problem” remaining is to find enough gas to flow the full 3.25 Bcf/d. They won’t be flowing the full 3.25 Bcf/d until all of the laterals are brought online…
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Big Green Sues to Stop DTE Energy’s MI Gas-Fired Electric Plant

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Last June DTE Energy filed paperwork in Michigan to build a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas-fired power plant in St. Clair County (see DTE Energy Files to Build New Natgas-Fired Elec Plant in Michigan). The gas-fired plant will produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 850,000 homes. If all goes according to plan, the new $1 billion plant will go online in 2022, helping to offset three coal-fired plants set to be retired by 2023. The process is long to approve and then build such a project, with many hoops to jump through. The first hurdle, perhaps THE major hurdle, is an approval by Michigan utility regulators. That happened in April. Right on cue the far-left Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Earthjustice, all of which seem to have unending sources of cash to file lawsuits, have together filed an appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals to reverse the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) decision to approve the project…
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FERC Allows Rover Pipeline Startup in Michigan, Close to 100% Done

An order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued yesterday allows Energy Transfer (ET) to begin full operations along the North Market Segment of the Rover Pipeline–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada via the Vector Pipeline. On April 13 ET asked FERC for permission to start up service along another major chunk of it’s massive Rover Pipeline (see Rover Pipe Asks FERC for OK to Open New Segments in OH, MI). ET eagerly wants to begin service along a 100-mile segment of Rover in northwest Ohio on into Michigan. FERC has been approving ET’s April 13th request in dribs and drabs. With yesterday’s approval, the entire length of the Rover pipeline is now substantially operational. There are still a few places not yet in service, but ET says they are on track to have the project 100% operational by the end of June. When fully operational, Rover will flow 3.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica gas, some it going all the way to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. Currently Rover is capable of flowing 1.7 Bcf/d. With this new addition, we expect that number will jump considerably…
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List of 6 NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Coming to Michigan

Last June DTE Energy filed paperwork in Michigan to build a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas-fired power plant in St. Clair County (see DTE Energy Files to Build New Natgas-Fired Elec Plant in Michigan). The gas-fired plant will produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 850,000 homes. If all goes according to plan, the new $1 billion plant will go online in 2022, helping to offset three coal-fired plants set to retire by 2023. Although environmental groups launched a campaign against the project (see Michigan Anti Fossil Fuelers Oppose DTE Gas-Fired Plant Proposal), their efforts were too little too late. Last week the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the project! In addition, we spotted an article about five more natgas-fired plants planned for Michigan (full list below). As we always point out, there is a considerable amount of Utica/Marcellus gas heading into Michigan via the Rover and NEXUS pipelines. These plants are all potential customers for our gas supplies…
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