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    IECA Comes Out Swinging: Urges FERC to Approve 10 M-U Pipes NOW

    Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) is the only national cross industry trade association dedicated to a broad array of energy/environment related issues. IECA is a 501(C)(6) nonprofit, member-led organization created to promote the interests of manufacturing companies for which the availability, use and cost of energy, power or feedstock play a significant role in their ability to compete in domestic and world markets. The IECA is using its considerable heft and going to bat for ten pipeline projects critical to manufacturers–projects that move Marcellus/Utica gas out of the northeast to other parts of the country. IECA’s “aggressive lobbying” is chiding FERC for moving too slowly in approving NEXUS Pipeline (DTE Energy & Spectra Energy), Mountaineer Xpress Pipeline (Columbia Gas Transmission), Leach Xpress Project (Columbia Gas Transmission), Eastern System Upgrade (Millennium Pipeline), Atlantic Coast Pipeline (Dominion), Atlantic Bridge Pipeline (Spectra Energy), Mountain Valley Pipeline (EQT & NextEra Energy), Susquehanna West Project (Kinder Morgan), Transco to Charleston Pipeline (Dominion), and VEPCO – Warren County Project (Columbia Gas Transmission). In each filing with FERC, the IECA asks FERC to ignore the shrill voices of “keep it in the ground” nincompoops. IECA says, “Manufacturing companies do not have an alternative for natural gas. Major manufacturing production processes and equipment are designed to specifically use natural gas. Nothing else can be substituted for natural gas. We cannot operate manufacturing facilities on electricity, especially solar or wind power. Coal and oil are also not an alternative for a variety of reasons, including EPA air regulations that limit their use.” Here is a brief description for each project, along with the IECA brief filed with FERC for each of those six projects…
    Read More “IECA Comes Out Swinging: Urges FERC to Approve 10 M-U Pipes NOW”

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    OH Power Cos. Try to Stop Gas-Fired Plants with “Re-Regulation”

    As we have pointed out in past articles, the electricity industry is a complicated industry, with some some power producers operating as “regulated” and some operating as “unregulated.” Regulated power producers have their rates, and rate of profit, set by government regulators–which limits profits but also guarantees profits. Unregulated power producers, on the other hand, do not have the safety net of the government forcing ratepayers to pony up–they operate in the free market, taking all of the risks–and reaping the rewards if those risks prove worthwhile. Many (most?) of the new natural gas-fired electric plants getting built, like those we have focused on in Ohio over the past several days (see List of 10 Utica-Powered Electric Plant Projects Coming to Ohio), are of the unregulated kind. Three power companies in Ohio that are regulated want to keep their monopoly on power and shut out these impertinent upstarts–by calling for re-regulation of the power industry. So-called re-regulation would kill proposed new natgas power plants and keep Ohioans locked into higher prices using existing (and in some cases crumbling) plants to generate electricity. Let’s name names for the sleazy companies trying to pull a fast one…
    Read More “OH Power Cos. Try to Stop Gas-Fired Plants with “Re-Regulation””

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    PA Antis Build 2nd Magic Tree House to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Pipe

    Inspired by the criminal actions of eco-terrorists in North Dakota (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?), anti-pipeline zealots in Lancaster County, PA figured they would give some of the tactics from the Dakotas a try here. So last October they constructed a shed on stilts along the proposed path of the forthcoming Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline (see Antis Build Magic Tree House to Block Atlantic Sunrise Pipe). The shed on stilts looks like a big tree house (without the tree), which makes sense as the protesters are the equivalent of seven year-old, petulant, spoiled rotten children. Why not give themselves a magic tree house to hang out in and talk about the glory days of protesting Vietnam…er…ah…pipelines? The nutters have a Holy Cause–stop the use of all carbon-releasing fossil fuels. So, if one magic tree house was good, two would be even better! The nuts have done it again, building a second shed on stilts/tree house in the path of the pipeline. The nutters admit it will take about 15 minutes to rip them down, when the time comes. What they really hope is that thousands of people will swarm to the location of the tree houses and recreate the lawlessness of North Dakota here…
    Read More “PA Antis Build 2nd Magic Tree House to Stop Atlantic Sunrise Pipe”

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    Mariner East 2 Tells PA Town: You’re Flushing $100K Down Toilet

    Rabidly anti-drilling organizations like the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council (CAC) have been using the deep pockets of their contributors to stir up dissent against Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline, particularly in towns in the Philly orbit (see Towns Near Philly Collude with CAC to Block Mariner East 2 Pipe?). CAC has towns like Middletown (Delaware County) so agitated, Middletown’s town council foolishly voted to allocate $100,000 out of $1.8 million the town received for leasing rights-of-way for the pipeline to assess risks and create an emergency response plan for the pipeline. Sunoco is politely telling Middletown–you’re flushing 100 grand down the toilet. Federal guidelines already provide most if not all of the information (and planning) required to protect the good citizens of Middletown. So why is the town council throwing good money away?…
    Read More “Mariner East 2 Tells PA Town: You’re Flushing $100K Down Toilet”

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    Proposed VA Law Would Protect Frack Chemical Trade Secrets

    We have to chuckle. It was just two months ago, in November 2016, that Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved changes to environmental regulations that requires “mandatory disclosure of fracking chemicals, baseline water testing and monitoring, and spill prevention and response planning” (see Virginia Adopts New Frack Chemical Regs – Fracking to Begin?). In other words, drillers would have to disclose all fracking chemicals. While leftie Big Green groups love the new rules, the drilling industry set about to ensure trade secrets (exact combinations of chemicals) can’t be discovered by using Freedom of Information Act laws. Two new bills have already been introduced in the Virginia legislature this year–House Bill (HB) 1678 HB 1679 (copies below)–that will ensure trade secrets are kept safe. Big Green groups like the Southern Environmental Law Center are having a cow, claiming death and destruction await if the bills are passed…
    Read More “Proposed VA Law Would Protect Frack Chemical Trade Secrets”

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    Gulfport Issues $50K in Grants to Non-Profits in Ohio

    For the past couple of years Gulfport Energy has made major investments in the local communities where it operates in Appalachia (see Gulfport Energy Gives $500K to Foundation for Appalachian Ohio). The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO), established by Gulfport, makes grants available to tax-exempt organizations. Projects that increase quality of life, create access to opportunities, or identify and implement a solution for a community need are considered. Gulfport recently dished out another $50,000 in grants from the fund to organizations in Eastern Ohio…
    Read More “Gulfport Issues $50K in Grants to Non-Profits in Ohio”

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    What Do Kitty Litter and Shale Drilling Have in Common?

    GN Shale Shaker – Mini Mud Recycling System

    This is kind of an offbeat story for a Friday. What do kitty litter and fracking have in common? It’s not a trick question! They both use something called bentonite. Over 90% of all bentonite mined is mined in the U.S. Some half of all bentonite worldwide (found in volcanic ash) comes from one state: Wyoming. Bentonite, which is nontoxic, is called the mineral of 1,000 uses: “It clarifies wine and other alcoholic beverages, forms an impervious liner to keep landfills from leaking, removes ink during paper recycling, and goes into a slew of homeopathic remedies.” However, the two biggest uses for bentonite are (yep) kitty litter and drilling mud used to drill conventional and unconventional (shale) oil and gas wells. Bentonite keeps the drill bit cool and carries cuttings (dirt and rock chips) to the surface. You’ll find big tanks full of the stuff sitting on drill pads. Drilling mud gets recycled on location…
    Read More “What Do Kitty Litter and Shale Drilling Have in Common?”

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    Witch Hunt: Leading Climate Scientist Resigns from Georgia Tech

    Regardless of what you think about so-called man-made global warming, you would think that scientists should be allowed to express their views on the topic without being hunted down and burned at the stake like a witch, reputationally speaking. Yet if a climate scientist dares to express misgivings about the actual data behind global warming, that is exactly what happens. Dr. Judith Curry, a highly respected climate scientist, recently resigned her tenured position at Georgia Tech–because of climate witch hunters. Dr. Curry started out as a man-made global warming true believer, but was shocked at the “Climategate” emails that show researchers with the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia were intentionally making up the numbers in an effort to prove their theories. False data. Lies. Distortions. Dr. Curry investigated and questioned climate orthodoxy, and for that, she has been hounded out of Georgia Tech. What is wrong with this picture? When did science become politics? When did simply asking tough questions become the basis for destroying someone’s reputation?…
    Read More “Witch Hunt: Leading Climate Scientist Resigns from Georgia Tech”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jan 13, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Surpise! Washington Post says Maryland should NOT ban fracking; AEP wants to upgrade electric line to help Utica industry; Shell closes on 2 remaining properties for cracker; the anti-pipeline, anti-enviros; global upstream outlook for 2017 is optimistic; from Russia with love, for American fractivists; drillers start hiring again; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jan 13, 2017”

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    Potter Twp Inches Closer to Approving Permits for Shell Cracker

    In December the Potter Township Board of Supervisors convened a public hearing on the proposed Shell ethane cracker plant–to be built in Potter Twp–that ended up going on for 10 hours (see Potter Twp Declines to Approve Permits for Shell Cracker, For Now). The intent was to approve Shell’s request for permits to begin construction on the multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant. That didn’t happen. Instead, the supervisors decided to hold another hearing the following night. They did, and that hearing went for over an hour, in closed-door session. At the conclusion, the supervisors made a couple of requests from Shell, which Shell agreed to. However, the supervisors were still not ready to approve the permits and instead asked for more paperwork to be filed–by both Shell and the radical, anti-fossil fuel Big Green group Clean Air Council (from Philadelphia). The supervisors are certainly no rubber stamp for the cracker project. They are working hard to ensure area residents are protected when (not if) it gets built. But that’s not good enough for radical, anti-fossil fuel nutters who (irrationally) want nothing to do with natural gas. The supervisors held another meeting last night and a small group of antis attended with preprinted signs. One sign said “Deficient = DENY.” The other said, “Disaster Decision.” The first sign was flashed as supervisors tried to conduct their business. When the supervisors finally held a vote to ask the town attorney to draw up an official document to approve the cracker, the antis got mouthy (as they always do) and flashed the other sign. Amidst the shouting by antis, one supervisor asked for order in the room. One horse’s rear-end shouted, “Maybe the public wants disorder.” Here’s how it went last night…
    Read More “Potter Twp Inches Closer to Approving Permits for Shell Cracker”

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    EQT Wins Court Case Against PA DEP re $4.5M Wastewater Leak Fine

    In October 2014 the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined PA driller EQT $4.53 million for a leaky wastewater impoundment in Tioga County, PA (see PA DEP Levies Biggest Fine Ever, $4.5M Against EQT). While EQT did not say there wasn’t a problem with leaks at the site, they did say the way the DEP calculated the fine is unreasonable and arbitrary. In fact, EQT says the DEP levied the fine and took EQT to court because a few weeks prior EQT had sued the DEP over a different matter. EQT appealed the fine and the case to PA Supreme Court and a year later the high court handed EQT a “procedural victory” by saying EQT has a point about the manner in which the DEP is calculating the fine (see PA Supreme Court Gives EQT “Procedural Victory” in $4.5M Fine Case). The Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court, PA Commonwealth Court, for follow up work. The work is done and EQT has won. A three-judge panel ruled that the method the DEP currently uses to assess fines–by how many days pollution lingers, instead of by how many days the initial release of pollution lasted–is not legal nor common sense. The judges said such a method in fining, “would result in potentially limitless continuing violations.” Under the old way of calculating fines, the DEP was considering upping the fine on EQT to an insane $157 million. Calculating it under the new way will mean a fine of around $120,000. This is a major victory for EQT and a reigning in of egregiously overzealous state regulators…
    Read More “EQT Wins Court Case Against PA DEP re $4.5M Wastewater Leak Fine”

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    USFWS Pulls the Trigger and Lists Bumble Bee as Endangered

    Rusty patched bumble bee

    As the ignominious rule of Barack Hussein Obama draws to a close on Jan. 20, government agencies that are part of the Executive Branch, like the EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), continue to issue “midnight” rulings and edicts that will have tragic consequences–until Trump arrives and reverses it (hard to do, but not impossible). We’ve written before about the thuggish nature of USFWS. They are a (police) force unto themselves, kind of like the old East German Stasi. The USFWS is responsible for recommending and listing varies species, empowered to do so under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). They have WAY too much power under dictatorial rulers like Obama. On September 22, 2016 the USFWS published a proposed rule to list the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) as “endangered” under the ESA. The rusty patched bumble bee is found in the Midwest and eastern parts of the U.S. If it gets listed, it will have SIGNIFICANT impacts on drillers and midstreamers (see “Endangered” Bumble Bee May Slow/Stop O&G Projects in Northeast). Well, with just a few days left in Obama’s reign of terror, they’ve pulled the trigger and done it. The USFWS has just listed the lowly bumble bee as endangered…
    Read More “USFWS Pulls the Trigger and Lists Bumble Bee as Endangered”

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    Details on Newly Announced Trumbull Energy Center Electric Plant

    Yesterday MDN ran an important story about 10 proposed (or already under construction) Utica Shale gas-powered electric plants planned for Ohio (see List of 10 Utica-Powered Electric Plant Projects Coming to Ohio). Tucked in the list of 10 projects is a brand new project, officially announced just yesterday, in Trumbull County. MDN readers already know about this project. Last June, Massachusetts-based Clean Energy Future broke ground on their $800 million, 940-megawatt Utica gas-fired electric plant in Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH (see Lordstown Energy Center Breaks Ground on $890M Electric Plant). Construction is under way and the plant will go online in 2018. In February of last year, MDN reported that the owner of the Lordstown Energy Center project, Clean Energy Future, was considering building a second plant at the same site (see Lordstown, OH May Get Second Utica Gas-Powered Electric Plant). The rumor was correct. In November, one of the companies partnering on the project, Fluor Corporation, spilled the beans and announced the second power plant, to be called the Trumbull Energy Center, would indeed get built. However, the project’s main sponsor, Clean Energy, has been mum on the project–until now. Yesterday afternoon the project was officially announced. We have the particulars on this new, second power plant that will be bigger than its older twin…
    Read More “Details on Newly Announced Trumbull Energy Center Electric Plant”

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    Marathon Dances to Corp Raider’s Tune, Former CEO Dissents

    We always find it distressing when companies begin to tap dance to please corporate raiders. That is apparently what is now happening at Marathon Petroleum, owner of MarkWest Energy. We don’t pretend to fully understand what’s happening (this is all high finance stuff), but our impression is that Marathon is “dropping down” certain assets (i.e. moved from one legal corporate entity to another) more quickly than it otherwise would have, due to pressure on the company from Elliott Management, a so-called activist investor in the company. “Activist investor” is what used to be called “corporate raider” 25 years ago, which are companies or people who invest just enough in a company to control it, forcing the company to shed assets and fire people in order to boost the stock price–just to turn around and sell and make a quick buck. Apparently Elliott wants Marathon to a) move assets around from one company to another PDQ, and b) consider spinning out Speedway into its own company, or selling it. Speedway, you may or may not know, is Marathon’s retail gas filling station business. Speedway bought out and merged in the old Hess filling stations (see Marathon Petroleum Buys the Hess Truck! What Will We Do for Xmas?). Former MarkWest Energy CEO John Fox is none too happy about these machinations. Fox owns a bunch of Marathon stock and he issued a press release yesterday to pressure Marathon’s current leaders into slowing down and not being so eager to tap dance to Elliott’s tune…
    Read More “Marathon Dances to Corp Raider’s Tune, Former CEO Dissents”

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    Maryland Democrat Lawmakers Continue to Torpedo Fracking

    Maryland is a lot like New York–populated with lefty liberals who love to tell other people how to live their lives. Maryland went through a years-long process, just like New York, and eventually released what would likely be the strictest drilling regulations in the nation, in late 2014 (see Fracking in Maryland (!) in 2015? Quite Possibly). On his way out of office, then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (a Democrat) published the regs and prepared the state to frack (see Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations). But then the Maryland legislature passed a temporary moratorium which the newly elected Republican Governor, Larry Hogan, allowed to become law (see Maryland’s Pusillanimous Gov Allows Frack Moratorium to Become Law). Hogan and the Maryland Dept. of the Environment (MDE) returned with more tweaks which tightened the proposed regs even more–to the point no one would want to drill and frack anyway. But still the crazies objected (see Maryland Holds Hearings on Fracking, Crazies Turn Out to Complain). Maryland legislators, almost all of them liberal Democrats, want to ensure there is never any fracking in Maryland. So they’ve they’ve placed a “temporary” hold on new regulations that allow fracking. The new General Assembly kicked off its 2017 session yesterday, and while the House and Senate are quibbling over what to call it (a ban or a moratorium), one thing is clear: Maryland Democrat legislators are out to torpedo fracking in Maryland…
    Read More “Maryland Democrat Lawmakers Continue to Torpedo Fracking”

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    ETE Goes on Fundraising Bender – Raises $2B+ from Units & IOUs

    Energy Transfer Equity (ETE), owner of more than 62,500 miles of natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines, with many miles in the Marcellus/Utica, has just gone a cash-raising bender. ETE is, by the way, the owner of the planned Rover Pipeline–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. On Monday the company announced they have raised $580 million in cash by selling new 32 million new units (think shares of stock). In addition, yesterday the company said it had floated new notes (IOUs) worth nearly $1.5 billion. Wow! Add it together and the total is over $2 billion–a serious pile of cash. What are they doing with all that cash? Paying off old debt…
    Read More “ETE Goes on Fundraising Bender – Raises $2B+ from Units & IOUs”