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PA DEP Issues Permits for Transco Northeast Expansion Pipe Project

A little over a month ago, MDN brought you the good news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the Williams Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project, a plan to beef up the Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland (see FERC Approves Transco $950M Northeast Expansion Pipe Project). We have more good news: The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it has issued permits to Williams to allow the project to move forward with construction.
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Bethlehem Marcellus-Fired Power Plant Kept PA Lights on During Xmas

In a modern twist on an old story, the little town of Bethlehem (this one in Pennsylvania) provided a savior this past Christmas–in the form of a natural gas-fired power plant. The Bethlehem Energy Center, owned by Calpine, received permission (indeed, strong encouragement) from the U.S. Dept of Energy (at the request of the PJM grid operator) to “ramp up production” of electricity while other gas-fired power plants that are part of the PJM system began to fail due to the super-cold weather. Bethlehem powered up, keeping the lights (and heat) on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, Pennsylvanians living in the Lehigh Valley would have frozen their derrieres off. Marcellus gas as savior. Has a ring to it, eh?
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Partial Marcellus Flows Begin on Adelphia Gateway Pipe Near Philly

New Jersey Resources’ Adelphia Gateway project converts an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, into a natural gas pipeline. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued final approval for the project in December 2019 (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). The project converts 50 miles of an existing 84-mile pipeline from oil to natural gas. The northern 34 miles of the pipeline were previously converted to deliver natural gas in 1996. Portions of the final section began to flow Marcellus gas on Monday.
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Adelphia Gateway Pipe Near Philly Gets FERC OK to Finish Constr.

New Jersey Resources’ Adelphia Gateway project is a plan to convert an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, into a natural gas pipeline. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued final approval for the project in December 2019 (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). Thank God FERC approved the project during the Trump administration or it never would have happened. Given FERC’s prior approval, FERC functionaries (not the commissioners themselves) have just given permission for the project to begin construction on the final pieces.
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PA Approves Another $4.4M in Grants for Local NatGas Pipelines

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) issues grants covering part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Five more PIPE grants totaling $4.4 million have just been awarded–in Adams, Indiana, Lebanon, Lycoming, and Northampton counties. That makes 35 total PIPE grants thus far.
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PA Awards 4 More Grants to Extend NatGas Pipelines – $2.3M

Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) grants cover part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses in rural parts of the state to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the more-than-a-dozen (so far) PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Another four such grants, totaling $2.3 million, have just been awarded–in Chester, Monroe and Northampton counties. The big news with this latest round of grants is that they will create 575 *permanent* new jobs in the Commonwealth. Some 500 of those jobs will be at a mushroom farm!
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Talen Energy Sells PA Pipeline to Adelphia Gateway for $155M

In December the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the Adelphia Gateway pipeline project (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). Adelphia is a plan to convert an old/existing oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, into a natural gas pipeline. To flow Marcellus gas to southeast PA. The builder lacked one key ingredient–the pipeline!
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PA Prof Says O&G Cos, Deniers Guilty of “Crimes Against Humanity”

If you send your kids to Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) and they take political science classes, you might want to consider another school. One of their professors has just penned what is one of the most outrageous op-eds we’ve ever read. He claims those who operate “fossil fuel” companies–oil and gas companies–and those (of us) who “deny” that there is such as thing as catastrophic man-made global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, are guilty of “crimes against humanity.”
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PA Town Passes Ordinance Blocking Pipelines Near Appalachian Trail

Nice try, but no cigar for Plainfield Township in Northampton County. The Plainfield Board of Supervisors last week passed a new zoning ordinance that prevents pipelines (and cell phone towers, and solar farms, and wind mills, and and and) from being built near or under the 1.5 miles of the Appalachian Trail as it passes through their township. Thing is, when it comes to pipelines (like PennEast Pipeline) that are federally regulated, Plainfield can’t stop it. Their ordinance isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
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Cement Plant Near Allentown Converting from Coal to Marcellus Gas

A new Pennsylvania PIPE (Pipeline Investment Program) grant for $320,950 will help extend a natural gas delivery pipeline to the Keystone Cement Co. near Allentown, PA, which will allow the plant to replace coal with natural gas, used to manufacture cement. Total cost of the new pipeline project is over $2 million. The grant helps. According to the engineer working on the plan, it takes truck traffic off the roads and lowers costs to the plant.
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PA DEP Signals Approval for Adelphia Gateway Pipe Near Philly

Adelphia Gateway map (click for larger version)

In January the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable environmental assessment for New Jersey Resources’ Adelphia Gateway pipeline project in the Philadelphia area (see Adelphia Gateway Pipe Enviro Assessment Approved by FERC). On Saturday, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicated it will soon issue a federal “401” Clean Water Act stream crossing permit for the project.
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Trout Unlimited Launches Spy/Snitch Program for PennEast Pipeline

Let’s be right up front about how we feel about the innocent-sounding Trout Unlimited (TU). Four years ago the organization was outed as a radical, far-left environmentalist group–hellbent on opposing fossil fuels (see Trout Unlimited, Other Groups Outted as Radical Green Groups). We have zero respect for the organization. Yes, there are some well-meaning (hoodwinked, misguided) people who belong to it. Good people. But tricked into supporting an anti-American, anti-fossil fuel agenda. (You need to get out!) TU has just announced a new spy/snitch training program to keep an eye on the PennEast Pipeline–when it actually starts to get built. TU will soon begin training for a so-called “water monitoring” program in PA counties where PennEast will run–Luzerne, Carbon, Northampton and Bucks counties. To which we say, knock yourselves out. PennEast has nothing to hide. The pipeline won’t negatively impact waterways–not in any meaningful, long-term way. So if you want to spy and snitch, go right ahead. There won’t be anything to snitch about…
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Progress for UGI Energy’s LNG Peak Shaver in Bethlehem, PA

UGI LNG’s Temple I installation near Reading, Pa. with 3-million-gallon storage tank.

In February MDN reported that UGI is proposing a new LNG peak shaver for Bethlehem, PA. The project hit some early opposition, so UGI tweaked the design, keeping it alive (see UGI Energy Tweaks LNG Peak Shaver for Bethlehem, PA). An LNG peak shaver is a unit used for storing surplus natural gas, to have extra natgas on hand and ready during times of peak consumption during really hot summers or really cold winters. Sometimes your local gas utility will build and use a peak shaver (small LNG storage facility), so they don’t run out of natgas at a critical time, and to help with keeping prices lower by drawing down from storage if prices spike. Low prices make for happy customers. We’re interested in such facilities because of their potential as a new demand source for our plentiful gas supplies. UGI’s Bethlehem project includes building an 80-foot high LNG tank. Last week the Bethlehem Planning Board voted 3-0 to approve the tank, meaning more progress for the project…
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Northampton County Wants Jury Trial re PennEast Eminent Domain

Click for larger version

PennEast Pipeline, a 120-mile pipeline from near Wilkes-Barre, PA to near Trenton, NJ., is in the unenviable position of having to sue a few holdout landowners who refuse to negotiate in good faith to allow the federally-approved pipeline from crossing their property. Northampton County, PA is one of those landowners. PennEast Pipeline will traverse Northampton-owed conservation easements along its route. Northampton wouldn’t negotiate, so PennEast sued. Northampton wants a jury trial, supposedly to stop PennEast–but we think it’s really because they want more money for the conservation easements, something they appear to admit in a recent article…
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PennEast Pipeline Cuts $1.7M Deal with Bethlehem Water Authority

In a sure sign that the $1.1 billion, 120-mile PennEast Pipeline will get built, the Bethlehem Authority, which manages watershed land in the Pocono Mountains that supplies drinking water for the City of Bethlehem, has signed a $1.7 million deal to allow PennEast to traverse four miles of Authority land. Rather than challenge PennEast and potentially lose an eminent domain case, Bethlehem Authority officials said they brokered the deal–not only for the money it will bring in, but also to ensure there are certain protections in place during construction. The State of New Jersey is trying its best to stop the PennEast project (see NJ Continues to Hassle PennEast Pipe with Refusals & Rejections). However, this deal with Bethlehem Authority is yet another sign of the inevitability of the project. NJ is fighting an uphill battle they will lose. Wiser heads in Bethlehem realize that fact and took the right action to get the best deal possible…
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