Duke Energy Considers 2 New Large Gas-Fired Power Plants in NC
In January, MDN broke the news that Duke Energy is considering constructing a 1,360-megawatt natural gas power plant on 1,600 acres in Davidson County, North Carolina (see Duke Energy Considers 1,360-MW Gas Plant for Davidson County, NC). We were tipped off by the environmental left, which had discovered a transmission cluster study in Duke’s 2025 Carolinas Resource Plan that referenced the potential project. Antis peppered local officials with questions, which, in turn, put pressure on Duke to publicly confirm its interest. Except….Duke is interested in building *two* new 1,360-MW power plants. And there’s a second potential location for one or both of the plants. Read More “Duke Energy Considers 2 New Large Gas-Fired Power Plants in NC”
The Rockwood Area School District in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a $570,084 state grant to extend natural gas service to its facilities. The project will install around 15,100 feet of natural gas pipeline. Announced by State Representative Carl Walker Metzgar and Senator Pat Stefano (both Republicans), the funding comes from the Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE). The project is designed to replace the district’s current heating system (an old coal-fired boiler), effectively resolving the environmental issues caused by coal burning. 
Southwestern Pennsylvania voters chose poorly when they elected a Communist radical as their representative to the U.S. Congress: Democrat Summer Lee. She and two other far far far far far left radicals, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (Democrat from Michigan), and Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (Democrat from Arizona), together just launched what they euphemistically call the People’s Environmental Justice Caucus in Congress. A better name is the “oil and gas is racist” caucus, an attempt to smear the oil and gas industry with the label of racism, claiming that O&G projects only get built in communities of color or where the residents are poor—people who (says Lee & co.) can’t fight back against the industry. 
Utility company Spire Inc. (based in St. Louis, MO) successfully finalized its $2.48 billion acquisition of Duke Energy’s Piedmont Natural Gas utility business in Tennessee on March 31, 2026. Rebranded as Spire Tennessee, the utility becomes the state’s largest investor-owned natural gas provider, serving over 200,000 customers in the Nashville region via 3,800 miles of pipeline. Approximately 200 former Piedmont employees joined Spire. The natural gas that supplies Tennessee mostly comes from the Marcellus/Utica. 
CERAWeek 2026 was held in Houston, Texas, from March 23–27, 2026, focusing on “Convergence and Competition: Energy, Technology and Geopolitics”. The conference highlighted the accelerated pace of the “energy transition,” centering on energy security, skyrocketing AI power demand, infrastructure bottlenecks, and natural gas as a durable, competitive asset. In reviewing the reports published following CERAWeek, it’s obvious that natural gas was the belle of the ball. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Range Resources grants available for schools; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California cities roll-back natgas bans amid statewide energy crisis; Dalton approves $130M bond for new natural gas power plant; Haynesville production strengthens; Microsoft in talks with Chevron, Engine No. 1 about $7B Texas power plant; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures settle near flat; U.S. crude oil production rose in 2025, setting new record; INTERNATIONAL: Crude slides as war exit signals emerge; Trump tells allies to fight for fuel or buy from USA; Europeans urged to travel less as fear of energy shortage increases; The Strait of Hormuz’s bitter lesson for the European Union. 
The ongoing saga of Eureka Resources’ now-closed frack wastewater treatment facilities in Pennsylvania — two in Lycoming County and one in Bradford County — continues to unfold. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently assessed two fines against Eureka for violations of cleanup deadlines at two of its facilities. One facility in Lycoming County was fined, and one in Bradford County. The fines were $60,000 and $40,000. 
In September 2022, MDN told you about a new 53-mile pipeline project in Western Kentucky — a 16-inch natural gas pipeline to feed natgas to the southern Pennyrile Region (see 
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey is spearheading what he calls the “50 by 50” energy initiative, a plan for the state to grow its electric energy production from a current 16 gigawatts (GW) of generation to 50 GW by 2050 (see 
Two bits of LNG news to share with you, both of which affect the Marcellus/Utica because both use our molecules. Last Friday, Cheniere Energy announced that Train 5 at its Corpus Christi LNG expansion project is now operating at full capacity. Yesterday, Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil, produced its first LNG at its new facility. Golden Pass expects to begin exports early in the second quarter. 
U.S. natural gas liquids (NGL) exports climbed 7% to 3.1 million barrels per day in 2025, fueled by high domestic production and rising global demand for petrochemical feedstocks. Ethane exports grew 19% due to new international cracker projects, while propane reached a record 1.8 million b/d, supported by significant growth in India. Butane also hit record highs, serving as a vital cooking and industrial fuel in emerging markets like Indonesia and India. While China and Canada remain top destinations, the United States continues to dominate the global market by leveraging low domestic prices to meet diverse international energy needs. NGL exports from the M-U region also hit a new record-high last year. 
Last week was not a good week for the national rig count nor the count in the Marcellus/Utica. The national count dropped by 9 rigs to 543, while Pennsylvania lost 2 rigs and now operates 18, a level it hasn’t seen since January of this year. Both Ohio and West Virginia maintained the same counts last week at 11 and 8, respectively. The combined M-U count was 37 rigs last week, the lowest number since the Nov. 18, 2025, rig count report. Yuck. 
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) voted on Friday to open more than 8,700 acres of public land, including an additional 513 acres under Salt Fork State Park and 8,236 acres under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, for shale fracking. This move makes Egypt Valley the largest fracking project *under* (not on) state-owned land, despite vociferous public opposition from citizens and left-wing environmentalists. The next step in the process is to put the parcels out for bid.