OH Legislators, New Bill, Encourage More Gas-Fired Power Plants
Ohio lawmakers are grappling with how to prepare the state for a surge in new power demand from AI data centers. In January, MDN told you that five Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) commissioners will decide some important guidelines about who should pay to build out new electricity sources for data centers—how much current ratepayers should be on the hook for with expanded power generation (see 5 PUCO Commissioners to Decide the Future of Data Centers in Ohio). We said the five commissioners would decide the future of Ohio’s data centers. However, that’s not quite accurate. It would be more accurate to say they will decide how the risk is distributed between data centers and power generators in cases where data centers want to connect to the local grid. There’s a whole other world of power plants on-site. Read More “OH Legislators, New Bill, Encourage More Gas-Fired Power Plants”
Here’s a complicated issue that we will try to break down as simply as possible. The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) is a trade group representing some of the biggest consumers of energy in the U.S. (i.e., manufacturers). In the past, the IECA has made the strong case that more pipelines are needed, especially along the East Coast, to supply manufacturers with natural gas (see 
In a separate post today, MDN deals with the issue of dispatchable and on-site power plants in Ohio (see OH Legislators, New Bill, Encourage More Gas-Fired Power Plants). We spotted an article about the rise of on-site power generation (mostly natural gas) to power AI. It does a great job of discussing the various models for on-site powergen. For example, the local utility company could build a special power plant that services only a particular data center. An independent power provider could build such a plant for a data center. Some O&G companies are getting into the game of building power plants, like Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Or the data center could build and operate its own power plant, but then, that’s not the business they are in. Each option has advantages and disadvantages. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Natural gas, oil industry activity drives benefits in West Virginia; Pennsylvania’s energy mandate; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Haynesville gas producers hold steady ahead of expected LNG export surge; NATIONAL: Recent cold snap results in fourth-largest withdrawal from natgas storage; Not an energy or climate emergency but a new crisis – electricity; Energy literacy – understanding crude oil’s vital role; INTERNATIONAL: Oil climbs on supply worries, Trump tariffs check gains; WTI rebounds 1.9% after prolonged losing streak; Two new studies suggest Paris climate goal is dead; Europe teeters toward energy crisis as gas reaches two-year high; India’s oil & gas companies look to increase LNG imports from the US. 
For the second week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count regained some of the rigs lost in prior weeks. Two weeks ago, the rig count gained six rigs (see 
Expand Energy is the new company formed from the merger of Chesapeake Energy with Southwestern Energy. Expand is essentially Chesapeake Energy 2.0. Expand CFO Mohit Singh spoke at last week’s 2025 NAPE Summit in Houston. He had some fascinating things to say, including this: “Just to be clear, in our view, at least 75% of the natural gas demand growth is going to come from LNG.” He called LNG demand “durable” and reliable. AI (artificial intelligence) data center demand for natural gas, on the other hand, is volatile and “noisy,” according to Singh. 
The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations will be enforced beginning this year. Domestic (European) oil, gas, and coal companies must monitor, measure and report their emissions. The same restrictions will also apply to energy imports coming from other countries, including the U.S. (see 
Their policies and laws of the left end up costing the average person big money and result in the opposite of what those policies and laws were intended to produce. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo (both far-left Democrats), have shoved the Big Green agenda down the throats of New Yorkers for years. Their laws and policies have sought to eliminate the use of natural gas and force the use of electricity as the preferred energy source instead. Here’s a concrete example of how those policies have produced the exact opposite of what they profess to seek. The New York Post has an article about a New York City landlord forced to give up clean, efficient natural gas to heat his apartment building and switch to burning far-dirtier fuel oil instead. Why? Because Hochul’s policies (and Consolidated Edison’s complicity with those policies) have forced the price of using natural gas to skyrocket. 
For the week of Jan 27 – Feb 2, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells recovered from the previous week. Two weeks ago, only 7 new permits were issued. Last week, the number increased to 22 new permits issued. Whereas the Keystone State (PA) issued no new permits two weeks ago, PA issued 13 new permits last week. Six of those permits went to Apex Energy in Westmoreland County. Five permits were issued to EQT (Rice Drilling) in Greene and Lycoming counties. And two permits went to Expand Energy (Chesapeake) in Bradford County. 
We previously reported that INR (Infinity Natural Resources), which drills exclusively in the Marcellus/Utica region, floated an initial public offering (IPO) that brought in money on the high end of expectations and that the newly issued stock immediately started trading some 10% higher (see 
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, is about to fly drones equipped with magnetometers to sniff out orphaned oil and gas wells in Van Wert County. The ODNR previously completed drone flights in Auglaize, Hancock, Mercer, and Wood counties. The ODNR issued a press release to inform (warn) about the upcoming flights, no doubt to prevent the mass hysteria we’ve seen in recent months about drone flights along the Eastern seaboard.