FERC Debates Data Centers, the Grid, and Power Generation

In a very short period of time, data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) appeared on the radar as very large potential customers for natural gas due to their need for power. Out of the blue, we began to read about drillers and pipeline companies talking with potential data center customers about flowing Marcellus/Utica molecules to…

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Cecil Twp Supervisors Pull the Trigger on Frack Ban Via Setbacks

Cecil Township, PA Let the lawsuits begin. Last night, three of five supervisors in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, voted to ban all new fracking via a new setback (distance from well to nearest structure) requirement of 2,500 feet (see Cecil Twp About to Ban New Fracking – Will Other PA Towns Follow?). Contrary to…

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2 Radical Groups Appeal CNX Gas & Water Pipeline Project in SWPA

CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines—two for natural gas—along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna, and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP originally told CNX its…

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3rd Circuit Sides with PA Antis’ Appeal of REAE Permits 2nd Time

Williams’ Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project expands the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. About 450,000 MMcf/d of the total capacity went online in late 2023 along Transco’s Leidy Line in Pennsylvania. Another 160 MMcf/d went…

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Mass. Takes First Steps to Dump NatGas, Commit Energy Suicide

Look for the steady flow of people moving out of Massachusetts to become a stampede. The state is floating new legislation that will outlaw the use of natural gas as energy. The first step is to block any new customers from connecting to gas. The next step is to forbid repairing gas infrastructure, forcing broken…

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Steel Nation Launches Microgrid Division to Provide Reliable Energy

The great folks at Steel Nation, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA, have built over 2,200 compressor stations and other structures for the oil and gas industry in the Marcellus/Utica (and beyond) over the past 17 years. Yesterday, Steel Nation announced it has launched a new division to build electric microgrids for companies looking to create their…

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Cecil Twp About to Ban New Fracking – Will Other PA Towns Follow?

In September, the Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, caved to pressure from radical leftists and, by a vote of 3-2, instructed the town’s solicitor to prepare a new zoning ordinance that increases setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (half a mile), and add a setback of…

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DT Midstream Expanding Marcellus Gathering Pipe Connection to MVP

DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions like the Haynesville. DTM issued its third quarter 2024 update last week. Of high interest to us was the announcement that DTM is upsizing a previously announced project to connect its Stonewall Gathering System to Equitrans Midstream’s (now EQT)…

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Williams Files with FERC to Expand Mighty Transco Pipe in Southeast

Last November, MDN brought you the news that pipeline giant Williams planned to proceed with a new Transco pipeline expansion project called the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (see Transco Expansion to Add 1.4 Bcf/d Capacity to Flow M-U Gas South). The project was estimated to flow an extra 1.43 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day)…

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Same Two Enviro Groups Sue Shell Cracker for 2nd Time in 17 Months

In May 2023, two radicalized Big Green groups—the Environmental Integrity Project (based in D.C.) and the Clean Air Council (based in Philadelphia)—filed a lawsuit against the Shell Polymers Monaca Plant (ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA), claiming the plant has repeatedly violated federal air pollution limits (see Radical Antis File Lawsuit Aiming to Shut…

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Report: Natural Gas is the #1 Choice for Electric Grid Stability

Since 2014, the share of U.S. electricity generation from natural gas in the summer has increased every year, increasing from 29% in 2014 to 45% in 2024 (see U.S. NatGas-Fired Electricity Hit New Record High in Summer ’24). According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 43% of U.S. electricity was generated with…

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Likely Data Ctr Elec. Demand in Exelon Territory Doubled This Year

Almost overnight, the conversation concerning power use in the U.S. changed. For years and years, electric power demand has been fairly static. Then, seemingly from nowhere, came the rise of AI and data centers, which are power-hungry. A year ago, we weren’t talking about data centers. Now, hardly a day goes by without a story…

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Coterra Signs 2 Deals to Provide 200 MMcf/d for LNG Exports

Yesterday, two European companies announced separate deals for Coterra Energy to provide Marcellus natural gas to an unidentified LNG export facility that will liquefy and sell it to them. One company was commodities trader Vitol (based in Switzerland) and the other utility giant Centrica (based in the U.K.). Both deals were for 100 MMcf/d (or…

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Rhode Island Radicals Pressure Governor to Block Project Maple

The Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d of natural gas through 1,131 miles of pipeline. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. We told you in…

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