Ohio Power Siting Board Rejects Huge, Ugly, Unreliable Solar Farm
Local townships, whether governed by a majority of Republicans or Democrats, typically reject proposals to install massive, ugly, bird-killing (and filled with toxic chemicals) solar farms, no matter where they are tried (red or blue states). It’s a problem for the tone deaf environmental left. Solar farms are even rejected in blue New York! Another such installation tried to gain approval in Stark County, Ohio, recently. The Ohio Power Siting Board, citing local opposition, rejected a permit for a 150 megawatt solar farm that would have gobbled up 860 acres in Washington Township. Read More “Ohio Power Siting Board Rejects Huge, Ugly, Unreliable Solar Farm”
Last week was an interesting week for new permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. For the week of Apr 7 – 13, the number of permits issued soared, up 15 from the previous week. Last week, 36 new permits were issued. The surprising thing is just how few of those new permits were issued in the Keystone State (PA). Just five new permits went to PA. CNX Resources had four of PA’s new permits, all for the same well pad in Westmoreland County. The other permit went to EQT in Fayette County. 
Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a ruling dismissing a case that leaves in place a ruling from the Seventh District Court of Appeals. The case, Darrell Crozier et al. v. Pipe Creek Conservancy LLC et al., involves a decision on who owns the oil and gas rights underlying a property in rural Belmont County. The case revolves around the Ohio Marketable Title Act (MTA), something we’ve written about multiple times (
Capital Power Corporation, based in Edmonton (Alberta), Canada, a power producer with approximately 10 gigawatts (GW) of power generation at 30 facilities across North America, announced it is buying two gas-fired power plants from LS Power. One facility is the 1,124 megawatt (MW) Hummel Station, a combined-cycle natural gas facility in Shamokin Dam, PA, fed by Marcellus molecules. The other is the 1,023 MW Rolling Hills plant, a combustion turbine natural gas facility in Wilkesville, OH, fed by Utica molecules. We welcome Capital Power to the M-U! 
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count cratered last week, losing seven rigs. The U.S. count is now 583 active rigs, the biggest weekly decline since June 2024. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week, losing one rig it had gained the week before. The Marcellus lost one of the two rigs it had gained two weeks ago and now sports 24 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica remained unchanged at a combined 11. However, there were shifts among two of the three M-U states. PA picked up one rig and now operates 16 rigs. The last time PA operated 16 rigs was last December. The biggest news is that WV, which had operated 10 or more rigs for most of the past year (34 weeks in a row), broke its streak and lost two rigs. WV now operates nine rigs. 
Last week MDN brought you the great news that Boardwalk Pipeline Partners launched an open season to offer an extra 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity along its 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission pipeline network that stretches from Ohio to Louisiana, running through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas along the way (see 
A number of data centers have been announced in Licking County, in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. They all will need enormous amounts of electricity to operate. MDN recently told you about three gas-fired power plants planned for New Albany, including one from PowerConneX and two from Williams subsidiary Will-Power (see 
An important decision was recently issued in a federal court case (in Ohio) that potentially affects landowners and drillers with shale leases throughout the Marcellus/Utica. At least, we believe it has broader implications. The case, The Grissoms, LLC v. Antero Resources Corporation, was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Circuit) on April 2, 2025. The case involves a dispute between a certified class of 370 Ohio landowners and Antero. The landowners alleged that Antero underpaid them $10 million in natural gas royalties by improperly deducting certain processing and fractionation costs from their royalty payments, violating their lease agreements. In 2023, the landowners won against Antero in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (see 
Earlier this week, MDN told you about a mineral/royalty rights purchase made by WhiteHawk Energy, increasing its ownership interest in 475,000 gross acres in the Marcellus Shale for $118 million (see 
Ten years ago, MDN told you that Chesapeake Utilities, a diversified energy company with businesses in natural gas distribution, transmission and marketing, electricity distribution, propane distribution and wholesale marketing (nothing to do with Chesapeake Energy) had purchased a small midstream company in Ohio—Gatherco, Inc (see 
Ascent Resources, founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately held company focusing 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. Yesterday, the company announced a tender offer to repurchase up to $25 million of its common units, specifically Series A and Series B units, through an “unmodified reverse Dutch auction” with a price cap of $23.75 per unit. Why? 
GREAT news! The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met for about 15 minutes on Friday and voted to award Encino Energy the right to drill under (not on) 62.5 acres of Leesville Wildlife Area located in Carroll County. Encino will pay a $218,715 signing bonus and 18% royalties on any oil and gas produced. Landowners in Carroll County, pay attention: That works out to be a hefty $3,500 per acre for a signing bonus.