Only One Project of $7B Hydrogen Hunger Games Brings H2 into Homes
Of the dozens of projects spread across the seven regional hydrogen hub projects selected by the Bidenistas to receive $7 billion in taxpayer largesse, there is only one project (part of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project) that actually brings hydrogen into people’s homes. That project is, according to Hope Gas CEO Morgan O’Brien, the project by Hope to distribute up to 5,300 WATT Fuel Cells to Hope Gas customers in West Virginia.
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Equitrans Midstream issued its third quarter update yesterday. As you might expect, there was much talk about completing the nearly-done Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Near the top of Equitrans’ 3Q official update is this comment from CEO Thomas Karam: “Once in-service, there is little doubt MVP will be one of the most valuable pipelines in the U.S., directly connecting our country’s largest and lowest-cost natural gas resource and the rapidly growing demand of the mid-Atlantic and southeast markets.” MVP remains on track to be completed and online in 1Q24. We learned a few new details about MVP from the update. However, MVP wasn’t the only hot topic during yesterday’s update. We have new info about the Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Field incident, Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Project, and MVP Southgate.
Last week, MDN brought you a list of the 15 proposed projects that are part of the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) initiative (see 
We finally have a list of the 15 proposed projects that are part of the the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project. Earlier this week, officials with the Dept. of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and Battelle, the technology lab headquartered in Columbus Ohio that is quarterbacking the ARCH2 project, held an online briefing about ARCH2 (see 
New York State has made no bones about the fact that it HATES fossil energy — particularly natural gas. The state has banned fracking, permanently (for all time), preventing abundant supplies of natgas from being extracted within the state, dooming counties in Upstate to economic poverty. The state has blocked multiple gas pipelines from Pennsylvania into NY. It has banned new residences and businesses across the state from connecting to and using natural gas beginning in 2025. And lately, the state has begun to force natural gas-fired power plants to close. Yet sitting on the stage in Morgantown, WV, on Monday with West Virginia and Ohio officials and politicians there to commemorate and brag about WV’s big win in attracting a grant for a hydrogen hub, was the CEO of a New York company — a company that will play a key role in (and get gobs of money from) the WV hydrogen hub.
Since work resumed in midsummer, 92 stream crossings had been completed through Oct. 1 for the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, according to MVP spokeswoman Natalie Cox. About 330 crossings remain. Can the company realistically complete the rest of the work and get the pipeline operational by Dec. 31 (less than three months away)? That’s the multi-billion-dollar question. Some 4,200 construction workers are actively working on getting it done. It doesn’t help that highly organized “protests” are being inflicted on the project by Big Green-backed groups like Appalachians Against Pipeline.
As predicted by Reuters, on Friday, the Bidenistas announced the Hydrogen Hub Hunger Games winners. There were seven projects selected from 33 finalists. Among them was the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which is a project that will use Marcellus/Utica natural gas as the feedstock to produce “blue” hydrogen, which is hydrogen made from natgas where carbon dioxide from the process is captured and either used or stored underground. While there is no doubt the big winner is West Virginia, other neighboring states, including Ohio and (yes) even Pennsylvania, will benefit with several locations that will be part of the larger hub project. We’ll explain below.
The U.S. rig count actually rose last week, adding a piddly four rigs to 622 active rigs (regaining the four it lost the week before). We remain near the lowest point since February 2022. The count in the Marcellus/Utica, after falling by one three weeks ago and holding steady two weeks ago, gained one rig (in Pennsylvania) and now stands at 39 active rigs. The national rig count is down 147, or 19%, below this time last year. We’d classify it as limping along, but we’re happy to see this slight reversal.
We have some exciting news to share! Yesterday, we told you that super secret sources whispering to Reuters say the Bidenistas will announce, on Friday, the winners of $7 billion in grant money to construct hydrogen hubs around the country (see 
Nearly one year after EQT announced a deal to buy privately-owned Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for roughly $5.2 billion (see 
The U.S. rig count dropped again last week, for the third week in a row. The count shed another four active rigs, now down to 619 — the lowest point since February 2022. The count in the Marcellus/Utica, after falling by one two weeks ago, held steady last week at 38, which is the lowest it has been since the beginning of this year. The national rig count is down 143, or 19%, below this time last year. There’s no indicator the trend will reverse anytime soon.
The left thought it had won the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) battle with three colluding (corrupt) and sympathetic judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit). But then Congress, under the leadership of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, passed the “debt ceiling” bill that forces the completion of MVP (see 
Hope Gas, a Local Distribution Company (LDC), otherwise known as a utility company, provides gas service to approximately 112,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in thirty-five West Virginia counties. In January, Hope announced it was buying the West Virginia division of Peoples Gas, currently owned by Essential Utilities, for an undisclosed amount (see 
Waco Oil & Gas Co., Inc., headquartered in Glenville (Gilmer County), WV, signed a proposed consent decree (settlement agreement) with the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to settle an “alleged” charge of violating the federal Clean Water Act and West Virginia state law for “unauthorized discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States in Braxton County, West Virginia.” Waco will pay a $825,000 penalty — split evenly between the feds and WV. Waco will also pay big bucks to restore “the vast majority of the impacted waters” and to provide “compensatory mitigation for waters that cannot be restored.” No doubt the bill will far exceed $1 million in total.