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SRBC Approves 18 New & Renewed Water Use Permits for M-U Pads
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the January 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 18 general water use permits in December for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. Read More “SRBC Approves 18 New & Renewed Water Use Permits for M-U Pads”
In the space of the last year, data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) have seemingly come out of nowhere and become a major issue affecting the entire country. Data centers (banks and banks of computer servers) that serve AI are closely tied to the shale industry because shale gas is used to power big turbines to generate the electricity needed to power those data centers. When we see information about a new data center being built, we think, “Cha-ching! That’s a new customer for our natural gas!” And it is. However, how these data center projects get electricity has become an intense debate. We will explain. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PennEnvironment warns artificial intelligence; Utica Shale Academy awards bid for new welding lab; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Blackstone to buy $1 billion Virginia power plant near data centers; Atlas Energy uses driverless trucks to deliver frac sand; NATIONAL: Microsoft signs 25-year reforestation deal with Re.green in Brazil; White House clarifies Trump order restricting IRA, IIJA funds; Free our energy sector from crippling regs and inflationary spending on “green energy”; INTERNATIONAL: An underestimated source of methane found in shallow coastal waters; Putin says he’s ready to discuss oil, energy issues with Trump. 
Wow! Is this the Trump effect? For the week of Jan 13 – 19, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells achieved levels we haven’t seen in, oh, about four years. There were 41 new permits issued last week, up significantly from 27 issued the week before and 30 issued two weeks before. The Keystone State (PA) issued a whopping 25 new permits, with 17 (!) going to EQT spread across Greene and Washington counties. Another six permits went to Chesapeake Energy (now Expand Energy) in Bradford County. One permit each went to Range Resources and Apex Energy in Beaver and Westmoreland counties, respectively. 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) stopped publishing its monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) last June (see 
In December, PA’s Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging the PJM electric grid is being mismanaged and using inflated numbers that will cause economic pain for the 65 million customers who buy electricity in the PJM region—in particular the residents of PA. What’s causing the high prices in PJM, a region rich in natural gas? The policies of Shapiro and his predecessor in proposing a carbon tax have scared away new gas-fired power plants from building in the Keystone State. As we reported yesterday, Shapiro has increased his menacing and threats against PJM (see 
President Donald J. Trump, with the sweep of his pen, canceled the cancel culture that has been deeply embedded in the federal government, attempting (under the banner of alleged racism called “environment justice”) to end fossil energy infrastructure projects like pipelines. In an executive order on his first day in office, Trump terminated all so-called “environmental justice” positions and offices across the federal government. Brilliant! 
In May 2023, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a new rule that would slap onerous and very expensive new requirements on pretty much all natural gas pipelines in the country, including 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipelines; 400+ underground natural gas storage facilities; and 165 liquefied natural gas facilities (see 
As Joan Rivers used to say: Can we talk? In other words, can we have an honest and open conversation…about hydrogen energy? There’s a lot of hype around the topic of hydrogen. Some promising early innovations around hydrogen and its use in applications like gas-fired power plants exist. However, as a sobering new commentary by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy makes clear, the future of hydrogen “is not imminent.” Even fracking wasn’t an overnight hit. It took from the early 1980s until the early 2000s (about 20 years) before fracking *began* to take off in a major way. It took another decade or so before fracking went big time. Call it 30 years. So why would we expect hydrogen to be some spectacular overnight success? That’s just not how energy revolutions happen. 
We sometimes poke fun at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predictions, accusing the analysts of using a dart board to generate the estimates they issue, especially with the future price of natural gas. But honestly, they have a tough job. Price is a complex issue with a lot of factors. Even though the EIA’s track record has sometimes been off by a lot, it remains the one source most quoted by the media and experts worldwide regarding future price predictions. In yesterday’s Today in Energy web publication, EIA says it “expects higher wholesale U.S. natural gas prices as demand increases.” Its latest forecast for the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub natural gas spot price is that the overall average for all of 2025 natgas will average $3.10 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). EIA expects that number to increase in 2026 to an average of $4.00/MMBtu. Is that realistic? 
Pennsylvania mineral rights owners (i.e., landowners) now have a well-deserved tax break thanks to a bill passed by the PA legislature and signed into law last summer (see 
Yesterday, with the bitter cold blast (called a polar vortex) hitting the eastern half of the country, the PJM power grid, which covers all or parts of 13 states plus the District of Columbia (including all of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia), experienced its largest single-day power draw EVER. The grid came through with flying colors thanks to natural gas, which provided an average of 42.5% of the total power produced yesterday, and coal, which produced 22.9% of all the power produced yesterday. Add in oil with another 3%, and fossil fuels carried the heavy load by producing 68.4% of PJM’s electricity yesterday. How much did solar and wind produce? An infinitesimally small 4.46% of the electricity produced yesterday. Nuclear produced nearly a quarter of PJM’s electricity yesterday at 24.5%. 
In December, PA’s Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging the PJM electric grid is being mismanaged and using inflated numbers that will cause economic pain for the 65 million customers who buy electricity in the PJM region—in particular the residents of PA. What’s causing the high prices in PJM, a region rich in natural gas? That would be former Gov. Tom Wolf and current Gov. Josh Shapiro insisting the state tax gas-fired power plants via the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Shapiro is blaming the victim (PJM) for his actions. He just increased the volume (as bullies do) by threatening PJM that PA may pull out of the grid and do its own thing…unless PJM finds a way to fix his mess. 
In May 2021, MDN told you that Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) had won Kentucky state approval to build a new 12-inch, 12-mile pipeline south of Louisville to supply gas to homes and businesses (including a Jim Beam distillery) in Bullitt County that can’t connect to LG&E’s local natgas utility system because it is currently maxed out (see