FirstEnergy Uses Questionable Tactics Against Referendum Workers

All we can say is, shame on FirstEnergy. They hired people to block petition gatherers trying to get signatures for a referendum for the November ballot. The tactics used can only be described as bullying–sometimes physical. Workers are trying to get enough signatures on a petition to place a referendum on the November ballot. The

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FERC Approves Transco Southeastern Trail Expansion Pipe Project

In April 2018 Williams filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the mighty Transco Pipeline to increase the amount of gas the pipeline can flow to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S by 296,375 dekatherms (296 million cubic feet) per day (see Williams Seeks OK to Expand Transco to

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PA DEP Seeks Comment on Draft Radiation Monitoring Regs for Shale

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted up new “technical guidance” on “radioactivity monitoring at solid waste processing and disposal facilities” specifically targeted at the shale industry. Translation: new regulations for how dumps (and drillers) monitor and report on radioactivity levels from incoming loads of drill cuttings. The DEP has posted their proposed

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NY Public Service Commission Admits Downstate is Short on NatGas

If this doesn’t beat all. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to allow a new pipeline to get built, so National Grid, the gas utility for all of Long Island and part of New York City, had to ban new customer hook-ups. Cuomo blamed National Grid and got the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to

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Mass. Sens. Markey & Warren Intro Bill Blocking Weymouth Compressor

Talk about disingenuous political posturing by a couple of pompous windbags. Massachusetts’ two U.S. Senators, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Ed “Lackey” Markey have introduced a bill in Congress to block the construction of a single pipeline compressor station–slated to be built in Weymouth, Mass. They even made up a catchy name for their bill: the

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PA Bills Would Hold Radical Pipeline Trespassers Accountable

We have an ongoing problem. Some of the more radical protesters in the “environmentalist” movement–those who tend toward anarchy–illegally enter work sites for pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure under construction, and block the work being done in an attempt to cost companies money. Typically they chain themselves to a piece of equipment with a

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Court: OH Marketable Title Act & Dormant Mineral Act Don’t Conflict

There is an ongoing question of whether or not the Ohio Marketable Titles Act (MTA), which impacts Utica shale rights, can be used to return previously severed mineral rights back to a surface landowner, or whether the MTA is superseded by Ohio Dormant Minerals Act (DMA). In February, Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals said

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PA Landowners Push for “Royalty Check Stub” Law at NARO Conf

The National Association of Royalty Owners’ national convention has been under way this week in Pittsburgh, wrapping up today. One of the big topics at the event has been a push to get a “royalty check stub” bill passed in Pennsylvania. What’s that? It’s a bill that forces drillers to do a better, more detailed

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Reaction to Gov. Wolf’s Bonkers Plan to Strangle NatGas Elec Plants

Yesterday MDN told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has gone completely off his rocker with a power-grab to force PA into a regional alliance to tax natural gas-fired electric plants out of existence (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). The reaction to his breathtaking power-grab has been swift–on both

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NY Tries to Change the Game re Hudson Valley Gas-Fired Plant

In October 2012, after a rigorous review by New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Cricket Valley Energy Center in Dutchess County was accepted and approved. Construction of the 1,100 megawatt plant (to fed by PA Marcellus gas) began in July 2017 (see Second NY NatGas-Fired Elec Plant Breaks Ground in Hudson Valley) and

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PA DEP Hires Private Lawyers to Defend Against Atty General Probe

Really? Is this what it’s now come to? Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is so desperate to make a criminal case against someone, anyone, in the shale industry, he’s even going after state employees–workers at the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). In a bid to raise his visibility among state voters (so he can

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Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax

PA Gov. Tom Wolf The worst Pennsylvania governor in our lifetime continues to wreck the PA economy. Tom Wolf previously made noise about dooming PA’s economy by forcing the state to adopt a so-called “cap-and-trade” plan for carbon dioxide–the stuff every living animal, including humans, breathes out with every breath (see PA Gov. Wolf, Dem

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FirstEnergy Spends $1M/Week on Ads Claiming Chinese Grid Takeover

Ohio’s major newspapers continue to push back against phony commercials being run by FirstEnergy in a desperate attempt to block a referendum to overturn House Bill (HB) 6 (see FirstEnergy Runs Attack Ad, Claims China Controls OH NatGas Plants). HB 6, a corporate welfare bill, was recently passed to prop up two FirstEnergy bankrupt nuclear

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PA Dems, RINOs Pressure Gov Wolf to Attack Shale with Methane Regs

Dems & RINOs want to strangle shale with methane rules A group of mostly Democrats, with three RINOs (Republican in Name Only) thrown in to earn the laughable label of “bipartisan,” gathered in Harrisburg, PA at the Capitol earlier this week to turn up the pressure on PA’s liberal Gov. Wolf on the issue of

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Ohio Issues New Form Landmen Must have Landowners Sign & Return

You may recall news from last year that an Ohio Supreme Court ruling requires landmen to have a real estate license in order to get paid–IF they are compensated via a commission and/or royalties for the deals they broker (see OH Supreme Court Rules Independent Landmen Need Real Estate License). However, IF a landman is

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