Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Jan 3, 2019
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Four permits issued in Ohio’s Utica; PA Rep. Daryl Metcalfe named new Republican Chair of House Environmental Committee; Weirton-Steubenville corridor sees nation’s highest percentage of construction job growth; Gov. Charlie Baker signs law requiring greater engineering oversight of natural gas work; U.S. natural gas producers, facing bottlenecks, practically giving gas away; How fracking enriches education in Texas – the rest of the story; Sempra sheds non-utility U.S. natural gas storage facilities; Energy commodity prices fell significantly in the last quarter of 2018; Here’s what to expect from oil in 2019; Chesapeake Energy, fracking pioneer, bet on oil – then prices plunged; Annual natural gas storage ‘deficit’ will turn into ‘surplus’ by mid-January; With an eye on record flow from Russia, gas market braces for slump; Russian natural gas flows to Germany, Slovakia up 2% on year in 2018 at 132.5 Bcm; Warnings of LNG supply shortages after 2022 should be taken seriously.
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Pennsylvania strippers are back in the news. Hold on, this is a family-friendly site! We’re talking about stripper wells.
On Sunday, Dec. 23, residents living near the Lackawanna Energy Center (LEC) in Jessup, PA (near Scranton) woke to a loud noise that sounded like a jet engine–and the release of natural gas into the air.
Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station, a new natural gas-fueled power plant in southwest Pennsylvania, is now online.
In January 2016, Invenergy announced their intention to build a natgas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see 
Grrrr. It appears that just like last year, more Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) is going to be unloaded at Boston for use in Massachusetts and New England. Not only that, a second shipment is going to Cove Point!
Following an extensive (underscore extensive) review, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has approved the permit applications for Shell’s Falcon ethane pipeline project.
Because of lawsuits, regulatory actions by Pennsylvania, and (most relevant) delays from problematic underground geology near Philadelphia, the Mariner East 2 and 2X pipelines, being laid side by side, will temporarily use a 12-inch pipeline near Philadelphia already in the ground but no longer in use to patch together and complete the ME2 and 2X project.
In November Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam abruptly replaced two (of seven) Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board members who were leaning against an approval for a compressor station needed for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project (see 
The Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF) was created by the Canadian Gas Association to “support the funding of cleantech innovation in natural gas.”
We’re not intentionally picking a fight, but we can’t ignore a big, glaring issue we’ve noticed for some months. A reporter at the Charleston Gazette-Mail is now funded by Big Green backers, and his reporting has taken a decided and noticeable turn against the shale industry.
A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to MDN readers! MDN will now take a break from daily publishing until after the New Year–until Wednesday, Jan. 2.