PA DEP to Hold Air Permit Hearing for Long-Running SWPA Power Plant
Despite claims by anti-fossil fuelers that the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station in southwestern PA would spread disease and death if built, it’s been up and running since 2018, producing power and generating revenue for both its builders and the community. Oh, and everyone is in good health. However, the plant has been operating under a state permit since it opened. It needs a federal Title V permit for long-term operation. The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency that issues such a permit and is proposing to do so, which (of course) has antis’ knickers in a twist (see PA DEP Signals Title V Air Permit for Long-Running SWPA Power Plant). In particular, antis complained that no public complaint sessions are scheduled. They will get their wish. The DEP will hold a public complaint session on Feb. 4. Get ready for a freak show. Read More “PA DEP to Hold Air Permit Hearing for Long-Running SWPA Power Plant”
Duke Energy is seeking regulatory approval for a $3.2 billion, 1,400-megawatt natural gas power plant in Anderson County, South Carolina. Scheduled for a February 2026 Public Service Commission hearing, the project aims for operations by 2031 to meet surging electricity demand in the region. Unlike other regional proposals, Duke’s facility avoids new interstate pipeline construction by utilizing the existing Transcontinental Gas Pipeline (Transco). The plant will use air-cooling technology to significantly reduce water use and has already secured turbines from GE Vernova. While Duke remains the primary owner, local electric cooperatives will hold a 7% stake in the facility. 
Deep River Data, a company with connections to the cryptocurrency industry, wants to drill for natural gas in Lee County, North Carolina. However, production from the well would not be used to power crypto mining, but instead to fuel an AI data center. If approved, the project would be the first commercial well drilled into the Triassic Basin, a natural gas repository underlying North Carolina and other Eastern Seaboard states. The planned well is conventional, not shale, so it involves no (or very little) fracking. Yet lefty environmentalists have whipped up opposition from the locals by urging them to “ban fracking.” 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Northeast gas demand started New Year with a gang; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Glenfarne launches financing for Texas LNG project; BLM announces March 2026 sale of oil and gas leases in four eastern states; NY Coalition for Safe and Reliable Energy petition; Washington State admits massive climate data error in 2026; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures down despite inventory draw; U.S. natural gas futures dip 3% on forecasts for mild weather, low heating demand; Strategies for reducing methane emissions from cattle; INTERNATIONAL: Oil prices jump as short covering builds; Survey shows OPEC held supply flat last month; Could Venezuela production get back to 3 million bpd?; Europe is waking up to the follies of ‘green energy.’ 
Another new (to us) pipeline project in the Southeast with the potential to flow Marcellus/Utica molecules. We recently became aware of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Line 31 Expansion Project. The project is designed to expand the capacity of the Texas Eastern (TETCO) interstate natural gas system in Madison County, Mississippi. The current proposal (not yet officially filed with FERC) includes approximately 10.2 to 11.5 miles of 36-inch-diameter pipeline looping, a 1.7-mile delivery lateral, and the construction of the new Ridgeland Compressor Station. The project is expected to provide between 125,000 and 160,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of additional natural gas transportation capacity, primarily intended to serve Entergy’s proposed Ridgeland Advanced Power Station (gas-fired power station) in Madison County. 
An interesting case in Ohio deals with whether or not natural gas can be taxed, depending on how it’s used. The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruled on Tuesday, January 6, that MGQ Terminal, Inc. is exempt from use tax on natural gas purchases used to process asphalt to customer specifications. Although Tax Commissioner Patricia Harris had assessed use tax for the period between 2013 and 2016 based on the determination that the company was engaged in a storage business, the board reversed this decision, finding that the company’s activities qualify as tax-exempt “manufacturing operations.” The board held that MGQ’s use of natural gas to heat, agitate, and blend refinery waste into homogeneous, specification-compliant products constitutes a transformative manufacturing process rather than mere storage. 
Constellation Energy Corporation has finalized its acquisition of Calpine Corporation from Energy Capital Partners, becoming the largest electricity producer in the United States, with a generating capacity of 55 gigawatts. This merger integrates Constellation’s zero-emission nuclear fleet with Calpine’s natural gas and geothermal assets. Prior to the merger, Calpine owned 79 energy facilities across the country, generating some 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, with a significant number located in the eastern U.S. Many of Calpine’s facilities use natural gas to produce electricity. 
Duke Energy breathlessly announced the launch of the DeBary Hydrogen Production Storage System, claiming to be the first U.S. project to demonstrate an end-to-end process for producing, storing, and combusting 100% green hydrogen. Located in Volusia County, Florida (near Daytona Beach), the facility uses solar energy to power electrolyzers that extract hydrogen from water. This stored hydrogen then fuels a turbine modified to burn hydrogen to meet peak electricity demand. Duke thinks that it can overcome the unreliable nature of solar power by using solar when the sun is shining to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, and storing the explosive hydrogen for later use. Below, we bring you the big claims by Duke Energy—in their own words—and then tell you why we consider their claims lacking. 
In a major disappointment, Republicans caved to Democrats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, releasing a so-called bipartisan spending package on Monday morning that keeps the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget largely intact. The spending package would fund several federal agencies and scientific bodies, including the EPA, the Departments of Interior and Energy, and the National Science Foundation, through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. The “minibus” bills, which will likely move to the House floor for a vote this week, allocated more than $38 billion to Interior, Environment, and related agencies, or $9.5 billion more than the Trump administration’s budget request. 
Big Green grifters from the environmental left have struck out in their attempts to shut down fossil energy and replace it with their own preferred energy sources by appealing to legislators and the general public. So they’re doing the only thing they have left: Launch a blizzard of lawsuits against oil and gas companies, hoping to tie them up for decades (using Democrat judges), or possibly even winning a few cases to further fund their nefarious activities. Bloomberg reports that Big Green is increasing its litigation pace in 2026. Time to shut them down in their efforts. 
Henry Hub spot gas prices “collapsed to $2.86 per MMBtu” on Monday. Less than a month ago, on Dec. 8, the HH spot price was $5.01. Yeah, that constitutes a collapse! What about across the Marcellus/Utica region? The Appalachian Regional Average yesterday (as near as we can tell) was $2.28/MMBtu, down from $4.80 on Dec. 8. Also a collapse. Why the drop in the M-U? We’ll tackle some reasons below. What about the NYMEX futures price for natgas? That price was $3.35 yesterday, down for the fifth consecutive trading session and the lowest since Oct. 28. 
In November, Pennsylvania finally passed a budget—four months late. As part of the deal struck between Democrats and Republicans, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme was permanently ash-canned (see 
It’s always fun for us to discover a new pipeline project that has the potential to flow more Marcellus/Utica molecules to other markets—particularly the Southeast and Gulf Coast markets. Here is one such project that (until now) had escaped our notice. On Dec. 29, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Southeast Compression for Utility Reliability Expansion (SECURE) Project, a compressor-focused expansion project designed to enhance compression infrastructure across Mississippi and Louisiana for the Gulf South Pipeline Company. The project will expand the Gulf South Pipeline system to provide an extra 280,000 dekatherms per day (Dth/d) of firm natural gas transportation service (280 MMcf/d) to markets in the Southeast, including support for power generation customers.