PSEG Closing Last 2 NJ Coal-Fired Plants, Replacing with NatGas
Twice in the past week MDN has either heard (in person) or read the statement that “regulations aren’t killing coal, natural gas is.” One of those times MDN heard it at the Benposium East event held in New York City last Wednesday. The other instance was President Obama talking about natural gas at talk on the South Lawn of the White House (see Obama and Man-Child Leo DiCaprio Talk Global Warming at WH Event). Is it true? Sort of. While Obama’s war on coal has contributed, the fact is, low prices for natural gas is causing a shift away from using coal to fire electric generating plants and instead using clean-burning natgas. The trend continues. PSEG–Public Service Enterprise Group–announced yesterday they are retiring their final two coal electric plants in New Jersey. The stated reason is that they are replacing those plants with new natgas-fired plants. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the new plants coming online in NJ will use Marcellus Shale gas to power them. The closure presents a problem for the nutty Sierra Club and others of their ilk. While they are ecstatic that the coal plants are closing, they are less-than-thrilled that another evil fossil fuel will take its place to power new plants…
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More analysis continues to roll in on Rice Energy’s plan to buy Vantage Energy for $2.7 billion (see 
In June Dominion began building Virginia’s largest natural gas-fired electric plant in Greensville County (see 
Warren Resources, a small driller that drilled and brought online their first two Marcellus Shale wells last year, is based in Houston and operates in California, Colorado, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. In February MDN told you that Warren missed an important $7.5 million payment, the first ominous signal of what was to come (see 
Last winter was pretty unusual by everyone’s standards. It was much warmer and less snowy than normal in the northeast, and natural gas production/levels remained high over the course of the winter. It meant that the price of natural gas stayed in the basement during the time of year when it normally at least makes it to the first floor. What about this year? MDN recently reported that it’s going to be colder and snowier than average in the northeast this year (see 
Speakers at this weeks Energy Dialogues LLC’s North American Gas Forum in Washington, DC were up on their high horses lecturing the natural gas industry that if we only can get our heads out of our backsides and clamp down on fugitive methane emissions we might actually get to stay around a few more decades, providing fuel to power the world. That’s the gist of the comments we read by so-called environmental “leaders” who spoke at the event. (Arrogant snobs, if you ask us.) But the one thing that really caught our attention was the statement that it may be possible to capture and control carbon from burning natgas to the point that it becomes a “zero-emitter.” Bet you never thought you would see “natural gas” and “zero carbon emissions” in the same sentence, eh?…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Monroe County, OH leads drilling permits in Sept; Utica rig count hits 22; WV tax collections still down from weak oil/gas price; Federal Reserve forcing investment banks out of the energy business; how long before ‘second wave’ of LNG export projects hits; what natgas prices are telling us; GE gets in the o&g drone business; and more!
Canadian energy company Enerplus Corp owns some 47,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases in northeastern Pennsylvania representing 841 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of reserves. Most of that acreage, according to the company’s website, is currently “non-operated.” Enerplus does actively drill in the North Dakota Bakken Shale play. Enerplus has a problem: the company is about $530 million in the hole (in debt). The way out of that hole? Sell off their non-operated Marcellus acreage for ~$500 million (works out to be $10,638/acre). Reuters is reporting that three sources have confirmed Enerplus has put their Marcellus acreage up for sale–and the the “for sale” sign has caught the interest from investment firms here at home, and in Asia…
In October of last year, MDN shared the news that Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the United States and a utility with 7.3 million customers in the southeast and Midwest, announced they are buying Piedmont Natural Gas (see 
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), charged with protecting and managing the water resources in the Susquehanna River Basin, continues to perform its duty with distinction–unlike the completely dysfunctional Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). A fair share of Marcellus drilling happens within the SRBC’s jurisdiction in Pennsylvania. The SRBC has worked with the Marcellus industry, instead of against it (as the DRBC has done), to ensure drilling does not harm the Susquehanna River Basin water supply–a supply that eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay. We credit the SRBC’s excellent performance to leadership (see 
Each year MDN partners with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their Northeast Awards–a way for companies in the industry that operate with distinction to get recognized by their peers. In March 2017 the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards will celebrate their 5th year. Over the past five years there have been thousands of entries and hundreds of finalists and winners. While the O&G Awards boys keep their ears to the ground to discover stellar performers, they want to know who YOU think are the best companies in the region. Therefore, they have put together a very brief survey (takes less than two minutes). This is your chance to bring a worthy company to the attention of the O&G Awards–perhaps even your own company!
Duke University, as MDN has chronicled, has a long history of pumping out faux research that bashes fracking and fossil fuels, “research” that’s bought-and-paid-for by the Park Foundation, one of Duke’s major contributors (see 
Stephen Heins, an energy and regulatory consultant for a Wall Street firm, and former vice president of communication for Orion Energy Systems, is an occasional guest blogger here on MDN. Steve calls himself a “luke warmer” when it comes to the fairy tale that mankind is causing Mom Earth to toast. That is, he’s not convinced that man-kind is causing a catastrophic warming up, but he’s also not ruling it out. That’s OK, we forgive him. A lot of intelligent people believe in such things. At least he’s a skeptic! Steve recently penned an article that finds “several flaws” with President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan (which has been challenged in court by 29 states). The CPP outright kills coal, and it mortally wounds natural gas, as we’ve previously written (see