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Va. Tech Gets $1.3M Grant to Turn NatGas into “Turquoise” Hydrogen

Oh, the many different “colors” of hydrogen (and natural gas). The wacko left dreams up all sorts of labels for the things they do and don’t like, hoping to influence the weak of mind to buy into their psychoses. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), a U.S. federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life, has just awarded a $1.3 million grant to Virginia Tech to figure out how to produce “turquoise” hydrogen from Virginia natural gas. What the heck is turquoise hydrogen? Read More “Va. Tech Gets $1.3M Grant to Turn NatGas into “Turquoise” Hydrogen”

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MVP Case Against Radicalized Protesters Advances in Federal Court

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia (Roanoke Division) ruled in two of five cases before it in which Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which is now majority-owned by EQT Corporation, sued radical protesters who blocked the construction of the pipeline in Roanoke County, Virginia. The court dismissed one count in the two cases (count #4) against the protesters, which the media focused on. The media doesn’t want to talk about the fact that there are five other counts, far more serious than the dismissed count, that the court is allowing to advance. These protesters are in a world of legal hurt over their illegal blocking of MVP construction. Read More “MVP Case Against Radicalized Protesters Advances in Federal Court”

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Judge Rules Virginia Can Stay Out of RGGI Carbon Tax…For Now

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Last November, a Floyd County Circuit Court judge ruled Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s effort to remove his state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme was not legal—therefore the state would, for now, remain in the carbon tax club (see Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax). Youngkin promised to appeal the decision, which he did. Last week, the same court temporarily suspended its November decision that forced Virginia back into RGGI while the appeal continues. So for now, Virginia is not collecting the RGGI fee from power producers. Read More “Judge Rules Virginia Can Stay Out of RGGI Carbon Tax…For Now”

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Virginia SCC Approves Dominion LNG Storage Facility in Greensville

In November 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) agreed with a petition from Dominion Energy subsidiary Virginia Electric and Power Company that requested a planned LNG production, storage, and regasification facility in Greensville County, VA, should be exempt from FERC jurisdiction under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (see Dominion LNG Storage for Va. Power Plant Exempt from FERC Regs). The FERC decision cleared the way for the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) to make a final decision on whether or not the project should get built. The SCC recently approved the project. Read More “Virginia SCC Approves Dominion LNG Storage Facility in Greensville”

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Va. Democrat Lawmaker Wants to Use Tax $$ for NatGas Pipe Project

This is one of those “man bites dog” stories. It wouldn’t be news if a Virginia House of Delegates member who is Republican proposed allocating $15 million of taxpayer money to provide “road extension, grading, and natural gas pipeline extension” for a natural gas power plant and potential data center in Pulaski County, in rural Southwest Virginia. But it definitely IS news when a Democrat proposes it! Read More “Va. Democrat Lawmaker Wants to Use Tax $$ for NatGas Pipe Project”

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Poll Shows Virginia Voters Strongly Support NatGas-Fired Power

Dominion Energy plans to build small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, near Richmond (see Dominion Plans to Build 1,000-MW Gas Peaker Plant Near Richmond, VA). The Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) calls for building four 250-megawatt gas-fired power plants (1,000 MW total) that can jump into action during the coldest and hottest days of the year to help supply enough electricity for 250,000 homes—to keep the lights on because solar and wind are not up to the task. Even though these clean gas-fired plants will replace dirty coal-fired plants, anti-fossil fuelers, flying under the banner of Friends of Chesterfield, oppose the project (see Anti-Fossil Fuelers File Appeal Against Chesterfield Power Plant). Dominion has new ammunition in its fight to build the plants. A new poll shows a majority of Virginia residents strongly favor allowing utilities to build new natural gas generation plants. Read More “Poll Shows Virginia Voters Strongly Support NatGas-Fired Power”

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Diversified Buys Another 300 Wells Plus Pipelines in WV & Va.

Diversified Energy, with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (also assets in other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. Earlier today, the company announced another deal to buy more assets in the Appalachian region. Read More “Diversified Buys Another 300 Wells Plus Pipelines in WV & Va.”

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Pa. Top Electricity Exporter, Va. Top Electricity Importer

The dataheads (sounds better than geeks or eggheads) at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an interesting analysis on Friday detailing which states export the most and import the most electricity. In 2023, Pennsylvania exported 83.4 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity to other states in the PJM electric grid. That’s roughly 26% of all the electric power the Keystone State produced. Meanwhile, for the first time in years (maybe in forever?) Virginia became the #1 state importing electricity, importing 50.1 million MWh. Virginia is also in PJM, so it’s not a stretch to suggest Pennsylvania’s electric exports went (largely) to Virginia. Read More “Pa. Top Electricity Exporter, Va. Top Electricity Importer”

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Va. Democrat Study Says Natural Gas Needed to Power Data Centers

The left can no longer hide the truth, as they have tried to do for years. The truth is, with the advent of data centers and artificial intelligence and their enormous demand for new electricity, there is only one solution that will work, at least in the next 10-20 years: natural gas power. A Democrat-controlled panel from the Virginia legislature commissioned an independent study of how to power data centers. Northern Virginia has the highest concentration of data centers globally and remains the fastest-growing market for data centers in the country. The state must plan for how to get power to operate all of those installations. The independent study concluded that the only practical solution is to use natural gas-fired power plants. Read More “Va. Democrat Study Says Natural Gas Needed to Power Data Centers”

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Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax

In 2021, as he was running for Governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin pledged that if he won, he would remove the state from the onerous carbon tax on coal- and gas-fired power plants called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Youngkin kept his promise, although it took longer than he had hoped. Unfortunately, the left-leaning (very partisan) Association of Energy Conservation Professionals sued. The judge in the case just ruled the way Youngkin removed the state from RGGI was unlawful and that the state must (for now) remain in the high-tax, onerous organization. Read More “Circuit Court Judge Rules Virginia Can’t Leave RGGI Carbon Tax”

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Mountain Valley Pipe Dinged Small Fine by Va. for Erosion Violation

Antis did their best, but their best wasn’t good enough. Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) victoriously began to flow up to 2 Bcf/d of Marcellus/Utica molecules in June (see Confirmed: M-U Gas Now Flowing Through Mountain Valley Pipeline). Construction of the project, which crosses steep mountains, has not been without its challenges, chief among them erosion at some construction sites due to heavy rain. Of course, most of that erosion would not have happened if environmental groups had not sued, and had a colluding Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals not delayed completion of the project FOR YEARS. Shame on them for causing more environmental damage than building the pipeline on time would have caused. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently dinged MVP with another small fine ($17,500) for erosion violations. Read More “Mountain Valley Pipe Dinged Small Fine by Va. for Erosion Violation”

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Virginia About to Tackle Who Pays for New Power for Data Centers

Just two days ago, MDN brought you a story about a developing issue of who, ultimately, should pay to build out new electricity sources for data centers (and AI) that increasingly use huge amounts of power (see Big Tech and Big Utility Tangle in Ohio re Data Center Electricity). A large utility company in central Ohio is tangling with Big Tech companies, including Amazon, Google, and others, about the commitments those companies should make before utility companies will risk investing billions to bring new facilities online. We predicted that this issue would pop up in other locations, too. And here we are two days later with news that Virginia is about to tackle the same issue. Read More “Virginia About to Tackle Who Pays for New Power for Data Centers”

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Va. AG Warns State Retirement System to Avoid ESG Investments

Add Virginia to the list of states refusing to invest in companies and investment funds that push so-called ESG investing. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an official Attorney General’s Opinion on the permissibility of basing Virginia Retirement System (VRS) investment decisions on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. The Opinion confirms that the VRS Board of Trustees must prioritize financial returns and the best interests of beneficiaries above ESG policies when making investment decisions. Virginia joins a growing list of states, including West Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee that eschews investing in funds and companies that advocate anti-fossil fuel positions.
Read More “Va. AG Warns State Retirement System to Avoid ESG Investments”

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Virginia Fines MVP Another Piddly $30K for Erosion Violations

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) slapped the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project (which is now online) with a fine of $30,500 for violations of erosion and sediment control rules that happened during the second quarter. It is the fourth consecutive quarter in which MVP was fined by the DEQ for violations. In total, MVP has been fined nearly $100,000 by the DEQ over the past one year. Which is pretty much a nothingburger.
Read More “Virginia Fines MVP Another Piddly $30K for Erosion Violations”

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MVP Lowers Gas Prices in Southeast, Raises Prices in Northeast

On Friday, June 14, the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that runs from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, announced the pipeline had, after a decade of planning and building, finally begun to flow Marcellus/Utica molecules (see Confirmed: M-U Gas Now Flowing Through Mountain Valley Pipeline). The effect of the molecules flowing through MVP has been profound and immediate, raising prices for M-U gas at the source and lowering the gas price at the destination.
Read More “MVP Lowers Gas Prices in Southeast, Raises Prices in Northeast”

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MSC President Dave Callahan Says MVP “Checks a Lot of Boxes”

The future is much brighter for natural gas producers in West Virginia because of the completion and operation of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which stretches from Wetzel County, WV, in northern West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, VA, in southern Virginia. In a recent appearance on the MetroNews Talkline radio program in WV, Marcellus Shale Coalition president Dave Callahan said completing and now using MVP “checks a lot of boxes” for the M-U industry. He explains which boxes in his talk…
Read More “MSC President Dave Callahan Says MVP “Checks a Lot of Boxes””