Statewide NY

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

800,000 Tons of Drilling, Frack Waste Unaccounted for in NY-PA-OH
July 20, 2023July 20, 2023

Researchers with the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) recently published a study in the journal Ecological Indicators. The study’s intent was to measure whether or not frack waste dumped in local landfills has radiation that is leaking out in groundwater (leachate) from those facilities. Research like this, if legitimate (and accurate), is a good thing. We need to know if the waste we’re dumping is causing a problem. But a funny thing happened during the study. The researchers found a big problem with recordkeeping.
Read More “800,000 Tons of Drilling, Frack Waste Unaccounted for in NY-PA-OH”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | New York County | Regulation | Research | Statewide NY

NYC to Experience Blackouts in 2025 Due to Democrat Climate Law
July 18, 2023July 18, 2023

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) is warning of a shortfall in electric generating capacity for New York City in 2025 when peaker plants–on-demand electric-generating plants that use fossil energy–are due to retire. Each quarter NYISO issues a short-term assessment of reliability. In April, the NYISO quarterly report warned about coming blackouts in 2025 (see NY Grid Operator Warns NYC Heading for Blackouts in 2025). Last Friday, NYISO issued its latest quarterly report and reiterated there WILL be a shortfall in electricity on the hottest days in 2025.
Read More “NYC to Experience Blackouts in 2025 Due to Democrat Climate Law”
Industrywide Issues | Maryland | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Drought Over? SRBC Approves New Shale Water Withdrawals in PA
June 26, 2023June 26, 2023

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 SRBC Advises Water Permit Holders to Consider Alternative Sources). The concern is an ongoing drought in the Northeast. However, at the same time the commission was issuing its warning, it was also approving new water withdrawal projects!
Read More “Drought Over? SRBC Approves New Shale Water Withdrawals in PA”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Statewide NY

3rd Circuit Rules Insurance Co. Not Liable for Bad Fracking Fluid
June 26, 2023June 26, 2023

We have a federal court decision from an interesting case to share. From June 2005 to October 2007, U.S. Energy Development Corporation contracted with Superior Well Services (of Pennsylvania) to frack natural gas wells owned by U.S. Energy in (of all places) New York State. Yes, fracking used to (still does) happen in NY–at least with conventional wells. U.S. Energy filed a claim against Superior in October 2007, saying Superior had damaged 97 of its wells during fracking by using the wrong kind of chemical mixtures in its fracking fluid.
Read More “3rd Circuit Rules Insurance Co. Not Liable for Bad Fracking Fluid”
Empire Pipeline | Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY

MVP the Template to Finish Pipelines Like NY’s Northern Access
June 23, 2023June 23, 2023

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) and its pipeline subsidiary Empire Pipeline have worked on a plan to build the Northern Access Pipeline since 2016. Northern Access is a 97-mile project from McKean County in Pennsylvania into and through Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Erie counties in New York that will flow Marcellus gas into New York State. The radicals of the Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul administrations have repeatedly delayed the project. NFG still wants to build it but needs more time. Last July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave NFG an extra 35 months to get the project done–until Dec. 31, 2024 (see FERC Gives NFG Extra 3 Years to Build Northern Access Pipeline). The Sierra Club appealed FERC’s time extension for the project, and it currently sits in court. Could an Act of Congress like the one that helped MVP finish help Northern Access too?
Read More “MVP the Template to Finish Pipelines Like NY’s Northern Access”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Dems Attack – State Senate Passes Bill to End Use of NatGas
June 20, 2023June 20, 2023

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse in New York, the “Empire State,” it does! In May, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (Democrat) signed a budget into law that includes provisions to ban gas stoves and furnaces in new residential buildings (see NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget). Beginning in 2025, if you build a new home (or business) in New York State, you will not be allowed to connect it to an existing natural gas pipeline system. You will be banned from installing a gas (or propane) stove in the house. We now live in a Communist, non-free state. New York has fallen. But even the budget ban of new gas hookups isn’t far enough for the Commies in the NY legislature! Senate Bill 2016 (S.2016) was just passed, a bill that bans natural gas itself–removing the right to buy natural gas–beginning in 2025.
Read More “NY Dems Attack – State Senate Passes Bill to End Use of NatGas”
Industrywide Issues | Maryland | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

SRBC Advises Water Permit Holders to Consider Alternative Sources
June 15, 2023June 15, 2023

At the end of May, MDN told you about water withdrawal restrictions from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) affecting 42 Pennsylvania oil and gas operators due to ongoing drought conditions (see SRBC Water Withdrawal Restrictions Hit 42 PA Oil & Gas Operators). Earlier this week, the SRBC notified 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…now.
Read More “SRBC Advises Water Permit Holders to Consider Alternative Sources”
Geothermal | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Energy Discrimination to Become Law in New York with Geothermal Bill
June 12, 2023January 17, 2024

We spotted a press release from an energy company that works in New York State called Dandelion Energy. (Interesting to name your company after a weed.) Dandelion is delighted with the leftists who rule in NY and are poised to enact a new law that allows drilling deep wells for geothermal systems (that Dandelion sells), but continues to prohibit drilling virtually the same kind of wells for natural gas. Because, you know, gas is an evil fossil fuel.
Read More “Energy Discrimination to Become Law in New York with Geothermal Bill”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Citizens Against Gov’t Waste Awards NY Gov “Porker of the Month”
May 24, 2023May 24, 2023

Yesterday, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), an independent, nonpartisan group, named New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Democrat) its May 2023 “Porker of the Month” for signing a budget that bans gas stoves and furnaces in new residential buildings. Hochul signed a $229 billion behemoth budget bill that bans new construction from connecting to natural gas pipelines (outlawing new gas stoves and furnaces), as well as forces the shutdown of seven gas-fired peaker power plants (see NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget). CAGW says the Hocul budget “is devastating for taxpayers, businesses, and consumers”–especially the gas ban.
Read More “Citizens Against Gov’t Waste Awards NY Gov “Porker of the Month””
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY’s Statewide Ban on NatGas in New Buildings Heading to Court
May 9, 2023May 9, 2023

Last week MDN brought you the sad news that New York State has fallen and is now under a Communist dictatorship, with the freedom to choose an energy source now gone (see NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget). Gov. Hochul and the Democrat legislature unilaterally voted to ban new homes and businesses from connecting to natural gas lines–even though such a ban was ruled to be unconstitutional in California just a few weeks ago (see Fed Appeals Court Overturns Berkeley, CA “First in Nation” Gas Ban). Can the California ruling be used to overturn the NY ban?
Read More “NY’s Statewide Ban on NatGas in New Buildings Heading to Court”
Alternative Energy | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Communist NY Forcing Schools, Hospitals to 100% Renewables by 2035
May 4, 2023May 4, 2023

Two days ago, we brought you the very sad news that New York State has fallen and is now under a Communist dictatorship (see NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget). Our freedom to choose which energy source we want to use is gone. Little did we know of another measure passed as part of the state budget that requires municipally-owned properties, including many hospitals and schools, as well as public housing and public transit, forcing them to switch to unreliable renewable energy by 2035.
Read More “Communist NY Forcing Schools, Hospitals to 100% Renewables by 2035”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget
May 2, 2023May 2, 2023

We’re not even sure how to process this, or where to begin. We previously warned MDN readers that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist, is trying to ban natural gas hookups in every single new home and business across the “Empire” State (see NY Gov. Hochul Loses Her Mind – Wants to Ban Gas in New Buildings). She even wants to ban gas in existing homes, but that’s too much even for NY’s Democrats to stomach (see New York Legislators Block Hochul NatGas Ban for Existing Homes). As part of the 2023-2024 budget deal, Hochul got her way. Beginning in 2025, if you build a new home (or business) in New York State, you will not be allowed to connect it to an existing natural gas pipeline system. You will be banned from installing a gas (or propane) stove in the house. We now live in a Communist, non-free state. New York has fallen.
Read More “NY State has Fallen – Gas Stoves & Peaker Plants Banned in Budget”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Republicans Warn NY Gov & Democrat Legislature to Forget NatGas Ban
April 25, 2023April 25, 2023

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a true extremist, is trying to ban natural gas hookups in every single new home and business across the “Empire” State (see NY Gov. Hochul Loses Her Mind – Wants to Ban Gas in New Buildings). She even wants to ban gas in existing homes, but that’s too much even for NY’s Democrats to stomach (see New York Legislators Block Hochul NatGas Ban for Existing Homes). New York City already has a ban on hooking up new homes and businesses to natural gas (see New York City Commits Energy Suicide – Mass Exodus Begins). As part of this year’s (very late) annual budget, Hochul and the Democrat legislature hope to pass a statewide ban on new gas hookups beginning in 2025 (or 2026).
Read More “Republicans Warn NY Gov & Democrat Legislature to Forget NatGas Ban”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | New York County | Regulation | Research | Statewide NY

NY Grid Operator Warns NYC Heading for Blackouts in 2025
April 18, 2023April 18, 2023

New York State’s chickens are finally coming home to roost. The extreme leftist politicians who run the state have assaulted the fossil energy industry for half a dozen years, maybe longer. The assault on fossil energy began under Andrew Cuomo and has continued under his successor, Kathy Hochul. Their actions are leading to electricity blackouts in New York City. Last Friday, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) released its quarterly assessment of the reliability of the bulk electric system. While the state as a whole is not (yet) in trouble, NYISO says beginning in 2025, NYC “could become deficient” in electric power. Translation: The Big (Rotten) Apple is heading for blackouts.
Read More “NY Grid Operator Warns NYC Heading for Blackouts in 2025”
Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Experts Say NatGas Use in NY State Indispensable for Years to Come
April 13, 2023April 13, 2023

New York politicians are so consumed with hatred of fossil fuels they are forcing residents to pay an average of $28,000 to convert their homes away from heating and cooking with natural gas, propane, and fuel oil (see NYers Will Pay Average $28K to Retrofit Homes for All-Electric). We’ve been raising the alarm, warning New Yorkers since 2019, when the state passed a draconian “energy” law, that residents will one day have to stop using fossil energy to heat and cook (see New York Pulls the Trigger, Commits Energy Suicide with New Law). That day arrived last December when a state commission approved plans to phase out fossil fuel-burning furnaces beginning as soon as 2025 as part of NY’s draconian (dystopian) program to address mythical “climate change” (see NY Bans Oil, NatGas, Propane Furnaces Beginning 2025 – Move Now!). People from the state’s energy industry, including utility companies, admitted there is no way in Hades the state can implement these draconian changes any time soon. At the NY Energy Summit, speaker after speaker made the case that natural gas “will likely remain indispensable” in the state “for years to come.”
Read More “Experts Say NatGas Use in NY State Indispensable for Years to Come”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Weak NY Governor Caves to Climate Crazies re Methane Acctg
April 6, 2023April 6, 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul, cooking in a gas stove

Yesterday MDN told you about pressure from the lunatic left being brought on the liberal governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, to keep in place a 2019 climate law requiring the so-called effects of burning methane be calculated as having an impact across a 20-year timeframe rather than the 100-year timeframe used by most other states, including California (see Antis Oppose New York Changing Methane Accounting Timeline). Hochul knows the shorter timeframe is dramatically increasing the cost of energy in the state and driving people out of the state. She wanted to adopt the longer timeframe. Yet, she caved to the uber-radicals–because she’s so weak and ineffective as governor.
Read More “Weak NY Governor Caves to Climate Crazies re Methane Acctg”