New York

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    FERC Green Lights Construction of Dominion Project in Upstate NY

    In June 2014, MDN told you about the Dominion New Market Project–a project that will build two new compressor plants and upgrade one other compressor station in upstate New York–to help flow more abundant, cheap and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania (and beyond) into the northeast (see Dominion Asks FERC for New Compressors in Upstate NY, WV). The project is projected to cost $159 million and provide 112,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of extra natural gas capacity along ~200 miles of existing Dominion pipeline across upstate New York. The existing Dominion pipeline runs through the Horseheads, Ithaca, Syracuse and Albany areas. In March 2015 MDN friend Andy Leahy wrote about the pitched battle antis waged against the project (see NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project). The antis were unsuccessful. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Dominion’s New Market Project in October 2015 (see FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY). And then a REAL miracle happened. The corrupt New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved the New Market compressor stations on Dec. 23, 2016 (see Miracle! NY DEC Approves Dominion’s New Compressor Stations). Barbara Lifton, an eco-left Democrat from Ithaca who serves in the New York Assembly, recently tried to stop the project from proceeding by sending letters to both FERC and the DEC, hoping she could (ab)use her position to pressure one or the other (or both) to delay the project, which is the antis’ first step in killing a project (see NY State Legislator Tries to Derail Dominion New Market Project). We’re delighted to report she failed. Last Friday FERC sent a letter to Dominion to let them know, now more than three years after filing, they can start the bulldozers and begin construction. In Communist NY! Who woulda thunk?!…
    Read More “FERC Green Lights Construction of Dominion Project in Upstate NY”

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    Empire Energy Owns 300K Marcellus/Utica Acres – Sitting in NY

    A press release announcing fourth quarter and full year 2016 results for Empire Energy Group caught our eye. The release talks about assets owned by Empire in the Marcellus/Utica region–specifically in Pennsylvania and New York. When we got digging, we found some interesting information. First off, Empire has operations in both Australia and (primarily) here in the U.S. One interesting observation is that Empire sold some of its considerable leases in Australia to Aubrey McClendon back in 2015 (see McClendon Nearly Triples Australian Shale Deal – 55M Acres!). Here in the U.S., Empire owns leases and wells in both the Midcontinent (Kansas) and in Appalachia (PA & NY). The website for Empire says this on the home page: “Empire Energy Group Limited is an oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) Company focused on onshore long-life oil and gas fields, primarily in the USA. The Company targets producing oil and gas assets with attaching low cost, low risk development acreage. The business strategy is to operate all assets. USA oil and gas operations are managed by an experienced and qualified technical team based in the USA. In addition to production assets, the Company is undertaking an exploration and development program of its extensive oil and gas shale opportunities in New York and Pennsylvania in the USA and The Northern Territory, Australia.” We went nosing some more and found that Empire owns 6,500 acres in NW PA, and 303,000 acres of leases in western NY. Yes, you can see the problem right away. There is no shale drilling in NY. Empire owns land on the wrong side of the border. So while they do have some conventional wells in NY, they don’t have (and won’t have) any shale wells in the Empire State any time soon. So although they advertise they have a presence in the Marcellus–it’s not much of one right now…
    Read More “Empire Energy Owns 300K Marcellus/Utica Acres – Sitting in NY”

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    Federal Judge Rejects Constitution Pipe Request to Bypass NY DEC

    A disappointing setback for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline due to run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY carrying Marcellus gas. As you may recall, in April 2016, New York’s anti-drilling governor, Andrew Cuomo, decided he would cave to pressure from radical environmentalists and block the building of the federally-approved Constitution Pipeline (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Cuomo’s toadies at the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) decided not to grant (i.e. denied) the Constitution the permits it needs to cross creeks and swamps. That was finally enough for Williams and the other partners in the project, who promptly sued NY in federal, NOT state, court (see Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority). Judge Norman Mordue of the Northern District of New York ruled last week that since NY has not officially denied the water crossing permits–simply not yet acted on them–there is no injury to the project. Even though the pipeline is losing money every day it doesn’t get built due to NY’s inaction. We fail to see how not acting on the permits over the long-term is any different from denying those same permits. It is a distinction without a difference in our book. But that’s what the judge ruled, granting the DEC’s motion to dismiss the case. The thread of hope that remains for the project is another case in which Williams (the builder of the Constitution) filed in an appeals court. Williams is maintaining the second case will go in their favor and when it does, construction is not far behind…
    Read More “Federal Judge Rejects Constitution Pipe Request to Bypass NY DEC”

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    NY’s AG Schneiderman Sowing the Seeds of His Own Destruction

    New York’s corrupt Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, is getting desperate. We want to go on record as one of the first to say he’s sowing the seeds of his own destruction. Schneiderman is a train wreck waiting (and about) to happen. We refer, of course, to Schneiderman’s eerie similarity to Captain Ahab in Moby Dick in attempting to hunt down ExxonMobil, Schneiderman’s great white whale. Recently Schneiderman, in cooperation with a sycophantic mainstream media, released information that former CEO Rex Tillerson (now Secretary of State) had a second email account. But unlike Hillary Clinton, Tillerson’s second account was not on a private server and was not used (as Schneiderman alleges) to secretly discuss how Tillerson “knew” burning oil and other fossil fuels causes mythical man-made global warming. Schneiderman’s action in running to the press to “reveal” a “secret” email account is a faint–a way to misdirect people from the real story, which is that Schneiderman continues to refuse to disclose his own emails that prove this whole Exxon witch hunt began when Schneiderman colluded and closely coordinated with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rockefeller Family Fund, and billionaire green activist Tom Steyer. A log of emails shows coordination just prior to the launch of the #ExxonKnew campaign for which Schneiderman is the point man. He’s desperate to avoid releasing his own emails–emails that will implicate him…
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    NY Fights Back Against NFG’s Request to Bypass DEC Pipe Approval

    On Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a long-delayed project–National Fuel Gas Company’s (NFG) Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). 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. Although FERC has now given permission to build it, the State of New York, specifically the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), must issue stream crossing permits. We’ve seen this movie before. The corrupt DEC fiddle faddles around in an effort to stall and delay. NFG is in no mood to screw around with the Cuomo DEC, so they filed a motion asking FERC for a “reconsideration and clarification” on the role of the DEC in reviewing the project (see Gutsy: NFG Asks FERC to Cut NY DEC Out of Pipeline Approval). Specifically, NFG wants FERC to rule that the DEC has NO role in reviewing the Northern Access 2016 project. The corrupt DEC doesn’t like being challenged and last week filed its own motion with FERC claiming NFG is out of line. The peeing match has begun…
    Read More “NY Fights Back Against NFG’s Request to Bypass DEC Pipe Approval”

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    Construction Update on CPV NatGas Power Plant Near Middletown, NY

    CPV Valley Energy Center – under construction

    MDN previously reported on a $900 million natural gas-fired electric generating plant coming to Orange County, NY (see Orange County, NY Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant OK’d by Judge). The CPV (Competitive Power Ventures) Valley Energy Center project is being opposed by local anti-drilling ninny nannies, including Hollywood star James Cromwell. No matter. The plant is now under construction. Currently the natural gas pipeline that will feed the plant is in court, trying to sidestep foot-dragging by the corrupt Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (see Millennium Pipeline Sues Cuomo’s Corrupt DEC Over Expansion Delay). We expect that will be resolved soon, with permission granted. In the meantime, the new news is that not only is the $900 million plant itself under construction, high-voltage electric lines and substation are also under construction to connect the plant to the power grid…
    Read More “Construction Update on CPV NatGas Power Plant Near Middletown, NY”

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    Gutsy: NFG Asks FERC to Cut NY DEC Out of Pipeline Approval

    On Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a long-delayed project–National Fuel Gas Company’s (NFG) Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). 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. Although FERC has now given permission to build it, the State of New York, specifically the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), must issue stream crossing permits. Sound familiar? The DEC faced a similar task with the FERC-approved Constitution Pipeline and ultimately, under political pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, made the decision to refuse granting Williams the permits it needs to build the Constitution. Williams sued and sometime this spring NY will almost certainly lose the case (see Bloomberg Predicts Court Will Strip NY’s Right to Stop Constitution). With the approval arriving, the DEC decided maybe it was time to begin conducting circus public hearings about the project (see Battle Begins to Get NY DEC to Approve Northern Access Project). But NFG is in no mood to screw around with the Cuomo DEC, so they’ve asked FERC for a “reconsideration and clarification” on the role of the DEC in reviewing the project. Specifically, NFG wants FERC to rule that the DEC has NO role in reviewing the Northern Access 2016 project. Wouldn’t that be sweet?…
    Read More “Gutsy: NFG Asks FERC to Cut NY DEC Out of Pipeline Approval”

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    Antis Try to Stop Buffalo-Area Coal Plant Conversion to NatGas

    NRG Dunkirk coal plant

    In 2013, a coal-fired electric generating plant near Buffalo (in Dunkirk) was slated to be converted to burn natural gas–a win/win for everyone (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). Radical environmentalists like the Sierra Club opposed it, but that’s to be expected. Crazy people do crazy things. Everything seemed to be fine until a competitor hauled NRG, the plant’s owner, into court to dispute the change from coal to natgas. They objected to ratepayers kicking in $150 million for the project. NRG said fighting the case in court will take years, so they just closed down the plant instead (see Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016). It was an economic nuclear bomb for that community. The Town of Dunkirk gets 40% of its tax revenue from the plant. New York State “generously” shucked out $5.5 million so Dunkirk wouldn’t collapse economically. But doing that year after year will get old quick. Other communities can rightly demand state help too. But then the competitor who had objected to converting the old coal plant to natgas (with ratepayer assistance) dropped their objection, and NRG restarted the project in December (see Coal-to-Gas Plant Conversion in Western NY Back from the Dead). But once again, the environmental lunatics who would rather bankrupt Dunkirk than let the plant restart as a gas-fired plant, are lobbying the state Public Service Commission to block the deal…
    Read More “Antis Try to Stop Buffalo-Area Coal Plant Conversion to NatGas”

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    Could Challenge to Colo. Frack Ban Affect NY’s Moratorium?

    We spotted an article on the Hot Air website about a court challenge in Colorado that may (or may not) have implications for shale drilling in places like New York State. Several years ago the ultra-liberal Boulder County, CO banned fracking. Landowners in the county are unconstitutionally denied the right to use their land as they see fit. So Colorado’s Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman, has just sued Boulder County to have the frack ban declared illegal. IF the case were to get appealed to a federal court and IF the case decided that Boulder County does not have the right to ban fracking, might that not serve as a precedence for New York and a statewide ban? We know, we know. It’s a stretch and a lot of IFs. But it is an intriguing idea–and a case worth watching…
    Read More “Could Challenge to Colo. Frack Ban Affect NY’s Moratorium?”

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    Millennium Asks FERC for OK to Cut Trees in NY w/o DEC Permits

    New York State is a hopeless, corrupt mess. MDN previously reported on a $900 million natural gas-fired electric generating plant coming to Orange County, NY (see Orange County, NY Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant OK’d by Judge). The CPV (Competitive Power Ventures) Valley Energy Center project is being opposed by local anti-drilling ninny nannies, including Hollywood star James Cromwell. No matter. It’s already under construction. The problem now is getting a 7.8 mile pipeline, an off-shoot pipeline from the mighty Millennium Pipeline, built to the plant to supply the natural gas it will need to run. In November the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the short pipeline (see FERC Approves Pipeline to Orange County, NY NatGas Power Plant). However, as with the Constitution Pipeline, the Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is intentionally blocking this pipeline using delays. Millennium is not, like Williams did with the Constitution, sitting on its hands waiting for the DEC. The Millennium is aggressively pushing the DEC to grant the necessary water crossing permits and sued the DEC in January to make it happen (see Millennium Pipeline Sues Cuomo’s Corrupt DEC Over Expansion Delay). As with other such projects, Millennium is playing beat the clock with respect to cutting down trees before March 31. After that date federal law prohibits large-scale tree removal in order to protect roosting bats (don’t ask). Millennium, we are happy to report, continues to push aggressively. They’ve asked FERC for permission to cut down trees not on or near swamps, er a, wetlands, without having state permission in hand to do so. In other words, Millennium is asking FERC to put its boot on the neck of the DEC and push. Love it!…
    Read More “Millennium Asks FERC for OK to Cut Trees in NY w/o DEC Permits”

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    Binghamton Radio Show Highlights NY Support for Constitution Pipe

    You may recall that in April 2016, New York’s anti-drilling governor, Andrew Cuomo, decided he would cave to pressure from radical environmentalists once again and block the building of the federally-approved Constitution Pipeline (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). The Constitution is a 124-mile pipeline will move 650 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per day from Susquehanna County, PA to the middle part of New York State, where it will connect with two other pipelines. Cuomo’s toadies at the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied the Constitution the permits it needs to cross creeks and swamps. After it had been approved nearly two years ago by FERC, the DEC’s action was finally enough for Williams and the other partners in the project, who promptly sued NY in federal, NOT state, court (see Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority). The court venue is important, because in NY our court system at the highest level is corrupt–the governor appoints judges and those judges like their big-salary jobs and want to get reappointed, so they “decide” cases the way Andy wants them decided (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). We’ve predicted, repeatedly, that the NY DEC runs the very real risk of being removed from the decision process when it comes to federally-approved pipeline projects. If they lose the Constitution case, they will no longer have a role to play. The case went to court last November (see Constitution Pipeline Case Goes to Court in 2 Weeks, Briefs Filed). A decision in the case is due sometime this spring. It could come at any time. In the run-up to a decision, the 70,000+ member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York hosted a radio program a few weeks ago to discuss the Constitution project and the enormous support it has in Upstate NY…
    Read More “Binghamton Radio Show Highlights NY Support for Constitution Pipe”

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    NY State Legislator Tries to Derail Dominion New Market Project

    NY Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton – anti-drilling zealot

    In June 2014, MDN told you about the Dominion New Market Project–a project that will build two new compressor plants and upgrade one other compressor station in upstate New York–to help flow more abundant, cheap and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania (and beyond) into the northeast (see Dominion Asks FERC for New Compressors in Upstate NY, WV). The project is projected to cost $159 million and provide 112,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of extra natural gas capacity along ~200 miles of existing Dominion pipeline across upstate New York. The existing Dominion pipeline runs through the Horseheads, Ithaca, Syracuse and Albany areas. In March 2015 MDN friend Andy Leahy wrote about the pitched battle antis waged against the project (see NY Antis Flood FERC in Fight Against Dominion’s New Market Project). The antis were unsuccessful. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Dominion’s New Market Project in October 2015 (see FERC Approves Expansion of Dominion Pipeline in Upstate NY). And then a real miracle happened. The New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved the New Market compressor stations on Dec. 23, 2016 (see Miracle! NY DEC Approves Dominion’s New Compressor Stations). Barbara Lifton, an eco-left Democrat from Ithaca who serves in the New York Assembly, is now trying a last minute, very desperate attempt to stop the project from proceeding. Two weeks ago Lifton sent letters to both FERC and the DEC, hoping she can (ab)use her position to pressure one or the other (or both) to delay the project, which is the antis’ first step in killing a project…
    Read More “NY State Legislator Tries to Derail Dominion New Market Project”

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    Radicals Try to Pressure NY DEC into Delaying Northern Access Pipe

    About 150 individuals masquerading as “organizations” have sent a letter to the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requesting the DEC add an extra couple of months to a comment period for National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access 2016 pipeline project. A few weeks ago the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the long-delayed project (see NFG’s Northern Access Pipe in NY/PA Gets FERC Approval). 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. Although FERC has now given permission to build it, the State of New York, specifically the DEC, must issue stream crossing permits. Sound familiar? The DEC faced a similar task with the FERC-approved Constitution Pipeline and ultimately, under political pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, made the decision to refuse granting Williams the permits it needs to build the Constitution. Anti-drilling fruitcakes hope to get lightning to strike twice, repeating the process with this project as they did with the Constitution. So, right out of their playbook, a bunch of radicals pretending to represent thousands of people (in reality 153 people) have sent a letter to the DEC attempting to pressure the DEC into extending a one-month comment period by an extra 60 days…
    Read More “Radicals Try to Pressure NY DEC into Delaying Northern Access Pipe”

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    Crestwood Building Rail-to-Truck NGL Terminal in Orange County, NY

    Crestwood concept drawing for rail terminal in Orange County, NY – click for larger version

    As MDN was reading through the latest quarterly/full year 2016 update for Crestwood Equity Partners (formerly known as Crestwood Midstream), we discovered something fairly innocuous, but in our book, a big deal. Crestwood said the company is “developing a greenfield rail-to-truck NGL terminal in Montgomery, NY that will increase propane supply reliability across the Northeast markets. The terminal, which is expected to be placed into service in the summer of 2017, will be supported by product controlled by Crestwood from multiple producers in the Marcellus and Utica regions.” What?! How did that one slip by? Crestwood is in the process of building, and will open, a terminal to distribute propane–in Orange County, NY (not far from New York City). This is good news indeed–and we wonder how and why the antis haven’t been bleating about this project, the way they have been about Crestwood’s long-delayed propane storage facility along the shoreline of Seneca Lake (near Watkins Glen). No matter–we’ll take our small victories where and when we can get them. Disappointingly Crestwood makes no mention of the Finger Lakes LPG storage facility in their update. But the Marcellus does get a few mentions. Below are what we gleaned from the latest update on Crestwood’s Marcellus operations, along with more background on the forthcoming propane terminal in Orange County…
    Read More “Crestwood Building Rail-to-Truck NGL Terminal in Orange County, NY”

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    Anti-Fossil Fuel Hatred Metastasizes in Tompkins County, NY

    Anti-pipeline insanity has metastasized in Tompkins County, NY (i.e. Ithaca). Members of the Tompkins County Energy and Economic Development Task Force object to building seven miles of 10-inch natural gas pipeline in the Lansing area (suburb of Ithaca)–because the pipeline flows a fossil fuel. They have objected to the point that the local utility company wanting to build it, NYSEG (New York State Electric & Gas), has floated an alternative plan: Build a compressor station for existing customers, and no new customers are allowed to receive natgas service. Ever. Period. Talk about nuts! The tinfoil hat folks on the Task Force instead want NYSEG (or someone else) to invest in so-called alternative energy projects to meet the energy demand for new customers. That is, the Task Force is prejudiced against the type of energy residents prefer to use–to the point of forcing another choice on them. Only in the Communist Paradise of Ithaca…
    Read More “Anti-Fossil Fuel Hatred Metastasizes in Tompkins County, NY”

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    10% of PA Farms Received Avg $154K in Lease/Royalties in 2014

    Some farms not only produce products like milk, meat, eggs and/or crops–some farms produce energy. Would it surprise you to learn that in 2014 (the most recent year with stats available), energy companies paid farmers a staggering $2.9 billion for the energy extracted from private farms? The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture posted a brief blurb from their Amber Waves magazine yesterday, recounting stats from a report released last November. The report, “Trends in U.S. Agriculture’s Consumption and Production of Energy: Renewable Power, Shale Energy, and Cellulosic Biomass” (full copy below) points out it’s not just oil and gas extraction that farmers receive income from. Some farmers lease their land for solar and wind generation. Some biomass. However, it was one particular chart and stat that caught our attention: About 9.6% of Pennsylvania farms received energy income in 2014. The average amount received, per farm? $157,000! Almost all of that revenue came from the Marcellus Shale…
    Read More “10% of PA Farms Received Avg $154K in Lease/Royalties in 2014”