Pittsburgh Utilities Experiment with Hydrogen Blend for Customers
We have nothing against using hydrogen as an energy source, other than it will never be able to power your home (see Why 100% Hydrogen Will Never Power Your Home; Why Antis Hate H2). But physics isn’t stopping a couple of utility companies in the Pittsburgh area from trying. NiSource, the parent company of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, and Peoples Natural Gas are working on experiments to introduce hydrogen into existing pipelines and use the blend in existing furnaces and gas stoves.
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Olympus Energy wants to drill six wells on a single pad in rural Elizabeth Township, a borough in Allegheny County on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The pad would sit about 2,400 feet (nearly half a mile) away from Elizabeth Forward High School. Some of the parents of students, and some of the administration, pushed back against Olympus’ drilling plan, using the kiddies as an excuse (see 
From the beginning of the shale revolution in Pennsylvania, State Rep. Greg Vitali (from the Philadelphia area), the current House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee Chairman, has been a shill, a mouthpiece for the rabid anti-fossil fuel lobby. Vitali no longer bothers to hide his joined-at-the-hip connection to Big Green. On full display for everyone to see is a column running in the Philadelphia Inquirer, supposedly co-authored by Vitali and Charles McPhedran, senior attorney for the left-wing Earthjustice organization. The column attacks crypto mining (Bitcoin mining) in the state, claiming it’s not “regulated” enough–by which they mean it should be blocked. Stopped. Hamstrung. Crypto mining is another term for computer server farms that use enormous amounts of electricity. Sometimes the server farms are located at remote (stranded) gas well sites where they (gasp!) burn natural gas to generate electricity. Vitali and McPhedran want to “regulate” (i.e., stop) such server farms.
Josh Shapiro promised he was a different kind of Democrat–that he would work with Republicans on important issues like the environment if elected Governor of Pennsylvania. In the end, Shapiro has turned out to be a dud–a do-nothing governor. We warned you during the campaign that should Shapiro get elected, he would (eventually) embrace the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax, even though he made statements during the campaign that he doesn’t support it (see 
New shale permits issued for May 15-21 in the Marcellus/Utica took a substantial hit. There were only 12 new permits issued, down by more than half from the 26 new permits issued the previous week. Last week’s tally included 10 new permits for Pennsylvania, 2 new permits for Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was a tie–Coterra Energy and Chesapeake Energy each received 3 new permits, with Coterra’s permits issued in Susquehanna County, PA, and Chessy’s permits in Bradford County, PA. Range Resources and Olympus Energy each received 2 new permits, and Southwestern Energy and EOG Resources each received 1 new permit.
In March, Shell said its Pennsylvania ethane cracker facility had not–using new, more accurate methods of measuring emissions–violated emissions limits at any point during the facility’s somewhat troubled startup (see 
Last Thursday, a Congressman from Pennsylvania, John Joyce (a physician from Altoona, PA), introduced House of Representatives Bill (HR) 3500, called the “Mountain Valley Pipeline Completion Act” (copy below). Which we find interesting because Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) does not touch PA, although a PA company, Equitrans, is building it. The 303-mile MVP pipeline starts in Wetzel County, WV, and runs through WV into Virginia, ending in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project has been stalled for years due to repeated lawsuits from foreign-funded Big Green groups. HR 3500, aimed at finishing MVP, was co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Carol Miller (R-WV), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Dan Meuser (R-PA), and Alex Mooney (R-WV). Here’s what the bill would do…
Yesterday the six sitting justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (currently one vacancy due to the death of Chief Justice Max Baer last fall) heard oral arguments in a case about the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)–a carbon tax scheme aimed at shutting down coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in the state. As is often the case, this Supreme Court case is about a technicality in the law. A lower court (PA Commonwealth Court) blocked the state’s entrance into RGGI last year until a lawsuit challenging PA’s participation could play out (see 
We’ve noticed over the past several weeks a coordinated effort among Big Green groups, including the Sierra Club, Analysis Group, the so-called Resources for the Future, the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, and others, engaged in a full-court press to try and convince Pennsylvanian’s that the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a HUGE tax on carbon dioxide emissions aimed at closing down coal and natural gas-fired power plants in the state, won’t increase electric rates, will clean up the air, and in general, will make Pennsylvanian’s lives happier, live longer, and have better sex. (Well, they don’t mention the sex part, but it’s implied.) We can categorically say, THEY ARE LYING. The simple truth is that these groups are ALL anti-fossil energy and they seek to DESTROY the shale industry. And yes, RGGI will raise your electric rates if you live in PA.
The Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (near Pittsburgh) has experienced a number of problems over the past six months during startup, including flaring and foul odors (see 
Zefiro Methane Corp.