Local Governments Continue to Fight States for Right to Govern Fracking
On November 7, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a joint report including recommendations targeting the natural gas industry from the...more
Blasts were heard at the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last week, and damage to the pipeline itself was detected underwater shortly thereafter. Russian sources indicated that the damage would further delay the delivery of natural...more
When Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine to go conquer that democracy, all of the abstract concepts about energy ended. While not quite a Pearl Harbor moment in terms of instantaneous ideological shift, Putin's...more
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy Cancel Construction of Atlantic Coast Pipeline - "Despite a recent win for the project in the US Supreme Court, ongoing delays, litigation and an expected increase in costs threatened the...more
Earlier in June, while trying to locate the successor to a longtime employee at Chesapeake Energy on behalf of a client, I asked a friend at another energy company if he knew whom I should contact. “I don’t know,” he...more
Norislk spill, Oil spill Russia, Thawing permafrost , Lake pyasino, Pyasina river, Artic oil spill, Fossil fuels, Fossil fuel companies, Renewable energy, Energy attorney, Daniel markind, Gas, pipelines, Shale gas, Marcellus...more
Pennsylvania, CNX Reach $1.48M Settlement on Abandoned Wells - "The order covers 141 conventional wells and five shale gas wells in Allegheny, Washington, Greene and Westmoreland counties." Why this is important: The...more
By a vote of 17-11, the Oregon State Senate last week just passed a five-year moratorium on fracking in that State. The Senate bill cut in half a 10-year moratorium passed in March by the Oregon House of Representatives, but...more
At 8:30 p.m. yesterday, the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation rejected Williams Corporation’s proposal for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline. Citing potential water...more
While little noticed outside of the energy industry, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is about to make one of the seminal decisions of his tenure. Before May 16, 2019, Governor Cuomo must decide whether to allow the New York...more
Trump Said to Seek Limits on State Power in Pipeline Approvals - "Trump's order comes as the president continues to chafe at regulatory barriers he says throttle the full potential of American 'energy dominance,' while...more
To nobody’s surprise, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf began his second term by calling for a mineral extraction tax to be layered upon the State’s local impact fee. Of course, the Governor never mentioned the impact fee in...more
Last week, New York City area utility Consolidated Edison notified regulators that, as of March 15, it would accept no new natural gas customers in Westchester County due to supply shortages. It is possible that cutoffs in...more
2018 began with the United States producing immense amounts of oil and natural gas; pipeline companies struggling to build out the national pipeline system but not being transparent about how they are doing it; Europe, led by...more
Pipeline issues continue to dominate the natural gas news. Last week, the pipeline industry got some good news, some bad news, and some news potentially so devastating it could threaten the entire industry....more
The simmering dispute over waterway rights between Ukraine and Russia broke into armed conflict this week. Its implications are enormous both for the energy world as a whole and especially for us in the Marcellus Shale...more
The tortured story of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline construction may be coming to an end. If so, it will end the way it began, mired in controversy and inconsistent with what had been proposed and promised by the developers....more
China's Provinces are Secretly Building Coal Plants in Defiance of the National Government - "CoalSwarm, a global network of researchers tracking fossil-fuel infrastructure, analyzed satellite imagery as of July 2018, and...more
On January 11, 1912, women weavers shut down the Everett Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Earlier that day, they opened their pay envelopes to find their wages cut by 4%. ...more
As Storm Looms, 4th Circuit Reverses Ruling Against Dominion on Coal Ash Pollution at Chesapeake Site - "Water pollution from a coal ash landfill and settling ponds at a closed power plant in Chesapeake is not a violation of...more
At 5:00 a.m. yesterday, a portion of the newly-built Revolution pipeline exploded in Center Township, Beaver County, western Pennsylvania. Luckily nobody was hurt, but one home, two garages, a barn and several vehicles were...more
Russian Hackers Penetrated Networks of U.S. Electric Utilities - "Russian hackers gained access to the networks of U.S. electric utilities last year, which could have allowed them to cause blackouts, according to federal...more
There has been a significant increase in the number of new natural gas pipeline projects being built in the last two years in order to satisfy the nation's energy demand. From 2011 to 2015, FERC approved 111 major pipeline...more
Department of Interior Rescinds OSM Enforcement Policies - On October 12, 2017, the Department of the Interior ("DOI") withdrew two prior Office of Surface Mining ("OSM") policies affecting mining operations. DOI rescinded...more
FERC Quorum - FERC has been stalled since February when Chairman Norman Bay resigned with two existing vacancies on the 40-year-old panel. On top of that, on April 20 another commissioner, Colette Honorable, announced...more