FirstEnergy Issues $26M Refund to Ohio Ratepayers re Nuke Bribes
Last week, after months and months of dithering around, the Ohio legislature passed a bill that overturns and rescinds House Bill (HB) 6, legislation adopted in 2019 due to $61 million in bribes spread around by FirstEnergy (see Kicking & Screaming, OH Legislature Votes to Overturn HB 6 Nuke Bill). Gov. Mike DeWine signed the new bill overturning HB 6 into law last Wednesday. HB 6 created a new tax on all Ohio electric ratepayers to funnel $150 million per year (for seven years) into FirstEnergy’s coffers in order to prop up the company’s two economically failing nuclear power plants in the state. At least, that was the reason given. Last week FirstEnergy refunded $26 million in previously collected fees back to ratepayers.
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Talk about using a sledgehammer to kill a fly. The two U.S. Senators from Massachusetts, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Ed “Lackey” Markey, have reintroduced a bill that would ban the use of compressor stations along natural gas pipelines if those pipelines happen to export some of the gas flowing through them to Canada or Mexico. Do these idiots understand how much gas is imported and exported with Canada and Mexico every single day? That they propose to shut down all of it, simply so they can shut down a single compressor station in Weymouth, Mass., is sick and twisted…
Some days it’s tough. You try to keep your head held high, but then you read of someone you (used to) highly respect, someone like former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, Mike Krancer, who now supports Pennsylvania being forced to join the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is nothing more than an obscene carbon tax that would force gas-fired power plants out of existence. Krancer bases his support on the flimsiest of excuses: That the tax revenues raised by RGGI (coming out of the pockets of ALL Pennsylvanians) will help plug a few more of the hundreds of thousands of old/abandoned conventional oil and gas wells throughout the state. Really Mike?
The vicious, relentless attacks on our freedoms and liberties in New York State continue. We can’t even catch our breath with the assaults coming so fast and furious. The latest salvo is by NY State Sen. Jessica Ramos (Democrat, East Elmhurst) who has proposed the Clean Futures Act (S.5939) which would not only ban the permitting and building of new natural gas-fired power plants throughout the state, it would also ban “the permitting of all new major facilities that burn fossil fuels, not just those that sell power to the energy grid.” In other words, any large office building, factory, etc. that gets built would not be able to heat with natural gas or fuel oil. New York is already closed for business, can you imagine the wholesale flight from the state should this Communist law get passed?
The Enverus U.S. rig count continues to climb (a good sign). For the week ending March 31, the U.S. rig count climbed another 6 active rigs to 519. The oil-focused Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale each added four new rigs. The Marcellus stayed even at 33 active rigs, and the Ohio Utica stayed even at 12 active rigs (although the Marcellus dry gas lost a rig and Marcellus wet picked up a rig). The other major shale gas play, the Haynesville, picked up a rig and now operates 48 active rigs.
This is how stupid liberals are: They think banning fossil fuels, like natural gas, will lead to less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It doesn’t. Citywide (and soon statewide) bans preventing the use of natural gas for cooking and home heating actually force the use of *more* natural gas, not less. We explain how and why below.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Sen. Yaw plans bills to stop state from supporting solar energy projects with any foreign components; National Fuel outlines plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Thomas F. Farrell II, former CEO of Virginia-based Dominion Energy, dies at 66; Cabot Oil and Gas donates $50,000 to LCTI program; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Hull Street Energy acquires natural gas-fired plant in Connecticut from ENGIE; NATIONAL: Biden infrastructure plan boosts renewables outlook, puts oil and gas on notice; US natural gas storage injection season starts early with 14 Bcf build; Adam Brandt to lead Stanford’s Natural Gas Initiative research program; U.S. LNG feedgas demand surges as export capacity additions continue; INTERNATIONAL: Oil slips to $64 as rising OPEC+, Iranian output weighs.
As we have in previous years, MDN will not publish today (Friday) in observance of Good Friday and the Easter holiday. We hope you enjoy this blessed time of year!
As you can probably divine from our headline, we’re not fans of the so-called “Bipartisan” Policy Center–a group founded by leftist Democrats and RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), which is how mainstream/Democrat media defines bipartisanship. As near as we can determine, the BPC is devoid of anyone who calls him or herself a conservative. But, whatever. The big news is that Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, has joined the BPC’s American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC) where his expertise will be used “to assist in accelerating the mission toward a clean energy economy.” Good luck Toby.
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Just yesterday our headline story was about Epsilon suing Chesapeake over Chessy’s refusal to honor a jv agreement and allow Epsilon to drill four wells in Susquehanna County, PA (see 
According to S&P Global Platts, natural gas production from the Marcellus/Utica in 1Q21 is up nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), now averaging 33.2 Bcf/d. That’s an increase of 2.8% compared with 1Q20. The problem is the interstate transmission pipelines flowing M-U gas are nearly full and the increase in production means we are beginning to see too much natgas piling up, leading to lower spot prices here in the northeast. However, not all sub-regions in the M-U are seeing an uptick in production.
Republican U.S. Senators (at least a few) have noticed the alarming situation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under new Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Sen. John Barrasso is questioning FERC over its recent decision to reconsider whether or not the Weymouth, Mass. compressor station should have been approved. That’s after the station has been up and running with no problems. It is not right for a new administration to reopen an already-approved (under a different administration) project and threaten to cancel it. It’s not fair nor right in anybody’s book. It’s lawless. Sen. Barrasso tells FERC it has some splainin’ to do. 
In February Chesapeake Energy finally emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy shedding $7.8 billion worth of debt (see 
Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh yesterday to make a major policy announcement. Fortunately, he was lucid enough to actually know which city he was in! Biden unveiled a $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” which raises corporate and individual tax income rates. It is half of his total package (another plan with another $2 trillion is coming in a few weeks). The Jobs Plan is supposed to be a plan to rebuild roads and bridges and other infrastructure. The Jobs Plan is misnamed. Much of the money has nothing to do with infrastructure and jobs. Instead, it’s the Green New Deal under another name, targeting the elimination of fossil energy in the name of saving the planet.