Williams Subsidiary Unveils Plans for Gas-Fired Power Plant in Ohio
Last week, MDN told you about three (so far) proposed Utica/Marcellus gas-fired power plants proposed for the New Albany International Business Park in Licking County, Ohio (see Multiple Utica-Fired Power Plants Planned for New Albany, Ohio). In that post, we mentioned proposals are coming for two projects that are somehow connected to Williams—the Socrates North and South power plants. Little did we know then, but the company that aims to build those projects, Will-Power, is a subsidiary of Williams! Get it? Will (iams) Power…Will-Power. We now have much more information about the proposed Socrates North project, including details shared during an information session. Read More “Williams Subsidiary Unveils Plans for Gas-Fired Power Plant in Ohio”
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost one rig last week (after gaining one the week before), now operating 592 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week. However, there was a notable change in the totals. Rigs focused on the Marcellus were down by one to a combined 23 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica picked up the lost Marcellus rig, now at a combined 12. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken last week when PA lost a rig. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one last week and now stands at ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Six weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and operates 11 active rigs. 
For the week of Mar 17 – 23, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells dropped by nine from the previous week. Last week, 22 new permits were issued, with 16 going to the Keystone State (PA). PennEnergy Resources took the lion’s share with 11 permits for a single pad in Butler County. PA General Energy received four permits for a single pad in Lycoming County. Range Resources got one new permit in Washington County. 
Last week, MDN told you that fracking has begun under the park, and literally nobody noticed (see 
In December, MDN told you the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, proposed new changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see 
For the week of Mar 10 – 16, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells increased by nine from the previous week. Last week, 31 new permits were issued, with 16 going to the Keystone State (PA). EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling) scored nine permits across Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties in southwestern PA. Range Resources took five permits, all of them in Washington County. And Rev Resources received two permits in Tioga County. 
The Allegheny Front, a leftwing “media” outfit in Western Pennsylvania (PBS reporters), published an article looking at how fracking has changed the “rural character” of Guernsey County, Ohio. The reporter took the recent start of drilling and fracking under Salt Fork State Park as an opportunity to write an article about the evils of fracking. Except, the reporter had this observation with respect to drilling happening right now under the park: “During a visit to Salt Fork State Park in December, there weren’t any visible signs of fracking. Of the few people who were there, two hunters said they didn’t know about fracking…” Exactly. 
Earlier this week, MDN told you that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce was putting its considerable influence behind a pair of bills making their way through the state legislature: Senate Bill (SB) 2 and House Bill (HB) 15 (see 
A guest column appearing in the Columbus Dispatch written by the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce makes a strong case that (a) Ohio needs more electric power generation, and (b) the perfect solution is to use “trapped” by lack of pipelines Utica Shale gas. Steve Stivers throws the weight of the Chamber behind a pair of bills that aim to make it easier to generate power in the Buckeye State, Senate Bill (SB) 2 and House Bill (HB) 15. 
We’ve been tracking a story that we consider an ongoing tragedy for nearly a decade. American Water Management Services (AWMS) owns a wastewater injection well in Trumbull County, Ohio, that supposedly caused a low-level earthquake (that nobody could feel) in 2014. Actually, there are two injection wells located at the site, both operated by AWMS. They were both “temporarily” shut down by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources following the quake nobody could feel (see 
A three-judge panel (all liberal Democrats) from the Ohio District Courts of Appeals for the Tenth District ruled yesterday that anti-fossil fuel fanatics don’t have the right to appeal a decision by the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to meet and award contracts to drill under (not on) several Ohio state parks, including the 20,000-acre Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. The case was appealed by Earthjustice acting on behalf of the anti-fossil fuel Save Ohio Parks. In February 2024, a liberal Democrat judge from Franklin County ruled against antis (see