Economy
Gas Industry Hasn’t Delivered On Its Economic Promises, Report Says
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Industry rejects report, calls gas development a ‘game-changer for local economies’
WSKG (https://wskg.org/category/news/energy/)
Industry rejects report, calls gas development a ‘game-changer for local economies’
The Senator is among lawmakers now calling for increased support for LIHEAP, including at least $10 million in emergency funding.
They say it will be important to find ways for solar farms to store and control how much energy they release to the grid.
“We need Joe Biden to demonstrate that he truly is a man that believes in science and believes in honoring the commitment to protect future generations.”
Plans include new solar farms and off shore wind turbines, and more transmission lines across the state.
State announced $3.9 M studies after pressure from families of rare cancer patients in SW PA
Plans are in early stages, but people weary of water contamination are on edge
Under the settlement, NYSEG would halt a proposed pipeline expansion in the Southern Tier and would stop promoting the use of natural gas and commit to net-zero growth in gas sales.
“Utilities do not have a mandate. They are legally required to provide adequate and reliable service that’s in the public interest … and they have dropped the ball far too long.”
Democratic incumbent Anthony Brindisi, former Republican representative Claudia Tenney and Libertarian candidate Keith Price covered an array of issues, including policing and climate change.
Critics of the facility have called it an incinerator. Under regulatory definitions set by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), it’s not.
“We want the village trustees of Endicott to respect their residents, to listen to their concerns and to represent their best interest.”
Protest organizers NoBurnBroome said they will continue to build support and fight the opening of the lithium-ion battery recycling facility.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted it is “the largest ever combined solicitations for renewable energy ever issued in the U.S.”
Grand jury makes proposals on regulation, oversight of fracking industry
NYSEG electric customers would see about a 2.3% increase in the first year, with the average monthly customer seeing a monthly increase of $2.49.
“When a crime is committed because of how a company does business, rather than an individual’s actions, we charge the company.”
In recent years, climate activists and states have used the Clean Water Act to block pipelines and other fossil fuel projects. A new EPA rule makes that harder,
Estimates don’t capture leaks from ‘abnormal’ conditions, Environmental Defense Fund says
GasBuddy on Monday reported that the national average price for a gallon of gas has increased 1.5 cents in a week to $1.75.
Help with refinancing debt could help shale companies in PA
“What we tried to do today is recognize some of those other organizations that are really on the front lines every single day doing this type of work around food and food care.”
Regulator, company at odds over erosion, hillside slips
‘Everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong’
It’s a different story on the commercial side, with a lot of businesses around the state forced to close if they are considered non-essential.
Coronavirus cases at Limerick nuclear station raised concerns. Pa. plants say they’re working to prevent outbreaks during refueling outages.
“We are following government guidelines with distancing measures being taken, increased cleaning schedules in-place, and limits on gatherings of groups.”
Wolf administration grants all of Energy Transfer’s waiver requests
Company says state has allowed some work to continue.
Construction on the Mariner East pipeline appears to be halted by Gov. Wolf’s new order that shuts down all “non-life-sustaining” operations and businesses.
PJM had prepared for pandemics and even did dry-runs with their staff working from home.
The money be used to create a state-wide program for weatherization, insulation, and other energy efficiency measures.
The group said it occupied the bank to protest its investment in the fossil fuel industry.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, between 2009 and 2017 lithium-ion batteries were the “root cause” of at least 195 fires.
DEP acting on governor’s executive order — which Republicans are challenging
Some Democratic presidential candidates want to ban fracking to help address climate change. That attracts young people, but may alienate swing voters in key oil and gas states like Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania is getting less money from the federal government this year to clean up its old abandoned mines.
Support for a ban strong in cities and suburbs; weak in rural SW Pennsylvania
DEP quietly withdrew the fine for faulty drilling after the company promised to fix the problems.
Republicans are pushing for looser regulations on conventional oil and gas drillers, who generally run small operations and work with relatively shallow wells.
“What will change is the unchecked power of just a handful of opponents to delay or block development of critical infrastructure projects that benefit the greater good.”
Fracking pollution not included in study; could lessen health benefits, author says
The settlement also lifts a nearly year-long permit freeze on the company’s other pipeline projects, including the cross-state Mariner East pipelines.
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia accounted for one third of the country’s shale gas production in 2019.
Carnegie Mellon University study focused on Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
Nobel Laureate and Binghamton University Professor Dr. Stan Whittingham accepted his prize Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden. At the same time, BU held a watch party in Vestal.
“What would I say now? I would say because of the regional and local health concerns and concerns about climate change, we should stop fracking–everywhere.”
The boom that helped make the U.S. the world’s largest oil producer could be ending. Oil prices are down amid weak demand and investors no longer seem willing to write the industry a blank check.
Proposed bill would require Legislature to OK Pennsylvania becoming part of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Natural gas is mostly used for heating homes or fueling power plants. But when it comes out of the ground, it contains another key ingredient — ethane, a building block of plastics.
Tom Wolf, a Democrat, addressed the situation for the first time Wednesday afternoon, saying he is not aware of any wrongdoing.
Pennsylvania’s Republican US Senator introduced a resolution he hopes will enable Congress to defeat future presidents’ fracking bans in court.
The compromise comes after cries for more of an investment to fight climate change.
Rules on coal ash ponds, wastewater from coal-fired power plants are targeted
Almost a year after lines opened, residents will say the project remains a risk to public safety
Home Energy Assistance Program is a federally funded program meant to help low-income households pay for heat during the winter.
Stan Whittingham is regarded as the man who laid the groundwork for the science.
According to NYSEG there are three ways to identify a leak: by smell, by sound, or by sight.
Resolves 2018 order involving more than 1,000 wells.
Reed said Cuomo opted for a virtual pipeline with roughly the same route but less efficient, less safe and more expensive.
Reed said that nuclear energy has to be part of the transition away from fossil fuels even with its risks.
“The benefit is there’s employment in the area. But the rest of the town’s neglected and I don’t feel our town of Grangemouth benefits as much as it should, with an oil refinery on our doorstep.”
Last Friday around noon, Three Mile Island nuclear power plant stopped producing electricity, part of Exelon Corp.’s plan to close and decommission the plant over the next 60 years.
Those people who support nuclear worry that without tax breaks, the plants will be shut out of a competitive energy market
Owners of existing clean energy power plants in New York say they’d like the same support from the state for their businesses that new ones get.
The raft of proposals serves as a rejection of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s own energy plan.
The Commonwealth Court said last week that the Democratic senator, an outspoken critic of Sunoco, did not have personal or legislative standing to bring a complaint
For decades, the United Kingdom has relied on oil and gas from the North Sea. Those fields, first developed in the 1960s and 70s, are declining.
Their call for action comes as the Trump administration works to loosen federal regulations on the powerful greenhouse gas.
The massive refinery and petrochemical complex in Grangemouth, Scotland, run by INEOS, was one of the first overseas plants to receive Pennsylvania ethane.
A federal appeals court has blocked PennEast pipeline company from condemning state-owned land for its proposed 116-mile long line that would ship Marcellus Shale gas from northeast Pennsylvania to New Jersey.
Abundant Solar said the chances are high that they will develop on the other sites.
Toronto-based Abundant Solar Incorporated will install solar panels at the county’s landfill in Bath.
NYSEG estimates fewer than 750 people were without power as of Monday afternoon. This comes after about 19,000 people lost power. Outages stretched from Elmira to Oneonta.
“This is particularly worrisome for customers with low and fixed incomes, as well as small businesses.”
Over 50 people at a public hearing called on the Public Service Commission to deny rate increase.
Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission demanded information from Sunoco Pipeline last year about what would happen if its Mariner East natural gas liquids pipelines failed, according to a newly discovered letter.
President Trump tours a Pennsylvania petrochemical plant Tuesday to highlight the U.S. energy boom. Trump claims credit for surging oil and gas production, but the trend began before he took office.
For now, independent pipeline experts say the blast appears to have been caused by the relighting of a pilot in a flare used by Sunoco for burning off excess gases, at a time when vapor had accumulated there.
More public input sessions on the NYSEG rate hike are set in Ithaca, Binghamton and the Adirondacks in the next week.
The company did not explain what caused the backfire but apologized for the noise, which alarmed neighbors and fueled longstanding concerns about the safety of the new pipelines, which carry highly volatile natural gas liquids.
A New York metastudy details the adverse effects fracking has on Pennsylvania’s environment, its climate and human health.
An opponent of the Mariner East project says he will ask an appeals court to order the Public Utility Commission to disclose documents containing its calculations on the effects of an accidental release of natural gas liquids from the pipelines.
A Salt Lake City-based company is in talks to purchase and dismantle Three Mile Island’s long-mothballed Unit 2 reactor — the site of the nation’s worst nuclear accident in 1979.
The power grid operator has received appeals from around the country to ensure its next leader prioritizes clean energy.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Thursday mandating 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040, and an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That’s below levels from 1990.
HARRISBURG (WITF) – A Lancaster County judge on Monday dismissed trespassing charges against seven protesters who blocked construction of the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline almost two years ago. Judge Howard Knisely of the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas released the defendants without charge after the district attorney dropped the misdemeanors in exchange for community service. The judge welcomed the agreement and said peaceful, nonviolent protest is protected, albeit with limitations, by state and federal law. Legislatures, not the courts, are the proper place to protect the natural environment and public safety, he said. But he urged citizens to elect lawmakers who truly represent public interests rather than their own.
ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – The 2019 New York legislative session saw the passage of a raft of legislation that has been blocked in previous years. Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton spoke with WSKG’s Celia Clarke in the Ithaca studio. She represents Tompkins County and part of Cortland County in the state Assembly. Lifton spoke about the new farm labor rights, legalization of electrically-assisted bicycles and scooters, and why she thinks marijuana legalization is inevitable. The conversation begins with Lifton talking what she considers the most important accomplishment of the session.
HARRISBURG, PA (WITF) – The Allegheny County Health Department and U.S. Steel have a draft agreement to resolve multiple air pollution violations from the company’s Clairton Plant over the past two years. The agreement calls on the company to pay $2.7 million in fines and put in place a suite of pollution upgrades at the plant. The company said the price of those upgrades is $200 million. The agreement does not resolve legal issues between the county and the company over air pollution problems that resulted from a Dec. 24 fire.
Pennsylvania’s impact fee on natural gas producers raised more money in 2018 to offset the effects of shale development than at any time in the fee’s seven-year history
“I’m concerned about the coal ash landfill, I do think that that needs further remediation. It’s definitely old technology that was used.”
Pennsylvania is the third-largest coal producing state in the country. But coal generated electricity plants have struggled to compete with cheaper natural gas and renewable energy.
PJM is now trying to walk a fine line between respecting states’ rights and figuring out how to incorporate their climate polices into its wholesale electricity market.
“They’re used to access to food from school. And then, of course, when you get to college — especially when you live on a campus — you’re expected to pay for those meals.”
After touting it across the state for months, lawmakers have finally introduced Governor Tom Wolf’s ambitious infrastructure proposal as a concrete piece of legislation.
The court document was issued under seal, but was discovered last week in a public database by a public radio reporter. After issuing an injunction, Judge Katherine B. Emery on Tuesday ruled it could be published.
A Washington County judge has issued a court order barring The Allegheny Front, StateImpact Pennsylvania and 90.5 WESA from publishing the content of a publicly available legal document obtained by a reporter for the news organizations.
Solar energy is plentiful in the summer, but when cold winter mornings return, a Cornell researcher has found the Northeast will still rely on fossil fuels for heat.
After months of Democratic Governor Tom Wolf promoting a sweeping infrastructure plan funded by a tax on natural gas drillers, some Senate Republicans have come up with an alternative.
There’s a new solar project in Tompkins County that has farmers and solar companies helping each other.
A bill that would ban trash incinerators in the Finger Lakes is now law.
Coal-fired power plants keep closing and communities around the country must decide what to do with those sites. Pennsylvania has a plan, aiming to create new jobs where the old ones have been lost.
Under the proposal, NYSEG natural gas customers would see a 1.9% increase, or about $1.05 more per month.
“They’re saying ‘it’s a bad idea to put pipelines in areas where damage to the pipeline could be caused by earth movement. If you know there’s potential damage, don’t put them there.”
The owners want to convert it into a 100 megawatt data center. Their proposal includes a seventy-five acre solar farm, and they will apply to the state for a 125 megawatt renewable energy allocation.
The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, site of the nation’s worst nuclear accident, will shut down by the end of September. Backers failed to secure subsidies to keep the plant operating.
Their main objection is the addition of a customs building and one customs inspector. Customs is part of the federal Customs and Border Protection, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.
“It’s not just about the environment. It’s about jobs. These are great, high-paying jobs we can create by going to renewable energy.”
“It seems natural for us to do that, with the hydroelectric power generation that goes on here.”
Experts testified before a House Science, Space, & Technology subcommittee that nuclear energy is important in limiting air pollution from the power sector, and for national security.
“All they’ve ever gotten is a slap on the wrist. It’s time for that to change. I’ll hold the oil and gas companies criminally liable for poisoning our air and our drinking water.”
“It’s a poor choice of words. It’s not a fair comparison. I mean these are working folk, these are salt-of-the-earth people.”
Nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania and around the country are running out of room to store spent fuel. Private companies are pitching their own solutions.
The state House Speaker and other Republican lawmakers announced a slate of bills Monday that are aimed at bolstering Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry.
“Why did they (state inspectors) grant these water permits the way they did? What was the rush in February, 2017? Did anyone put pressure on them to encourage that?”
BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) – Some Binghamton University students are pushing Congressman Anthony Brindisi to do more to address climate change.
Liat David is 19, a sophomore at the University. At a recent forum she helped organize, she said climate change has made her re-think having children. “Do I have that right as a woman that I can have a child and be proud of the earth that I live in and say that this child is going to be living in a regenerative and sustainable future?” she said. “I can’t necessarily say that right now, which is very sad to say because that is my right as a woman to say that I can have a child if I want to, but I really feel like that was taken away from me this past generation.”
Several members of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee met in Pittsburgh for a hearing on methane, the main component of natural gas and a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
The amounts shown represent the annual impact of HB 11 during reporting year 2019.
It takes aim at states like New York that have blocked pipeline projects that would carry Marcellus Shale gas to markets in the Northeast.
“We want to make sure you have the appropriate skilled, trained personnel on-hand to deal with providing that reliable service.”
“No real reason has been given to pass this legislation, other than we need the money to enhance our profit margin and to charge more for nuclear power.”
Demand for natural gas is growing across the Northeast. Meanwhile, natural gas production is booming in Pennsylvania. Connecting the two requires building pipelines across New York State.
The bills recognize nuclear plants as sources of carbon-free electricity and create new requirements about how electric utilities are to purchase power.
If approved, company will pay $200,000 fine and step up safety inspections of aging pipeline
Senate Bill 510 recognizes the plants as carbon free energy and adds nuclear power to the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard
The suit accused Sunoco of negligence and several other counts in its construction practices.
“The real challenge with the Green Amendment is that it may not even mean anything, but even if it does it could take decades for it to become meaningful.”
“You can practice it in the best-case scenario, but what we know is people will be scared,”
Pipeline opponents are raising new concerns about the safety of Energy Transfer/Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2x natural gas liquids line.
The location was strategic, giving Wolf a chance to highlight the kind of infrastructure projects he’d like to complete with the $4.5 billion his administration says the tax would produce.
It is the latest step in efforts to block the construction of the trash incinerator in the town of Romulus.
The line transports petroleum products from Sunoco’s Montello terminal near Reading to north-central Pennsylvania and New York state.
“We are really, really thrilled,” said Mary Anne Kowalski, Seneca Lake resident. “I think the fact that is impressing me most is that we’ve got bipartisan support on this bill.”
The country has ambitious goals to become the “hydrogen society,” and right now, the focus is on its automakers.
The nuclear watchdog group is asking federal regulators to analyze what the group calls a “potentially dangerous and risky condition”
The Department of Environmental Protection has issued more than 80 violations, halted construction at times along the route, and fined the company $12.6 million.
Opponents criticized the measure as too expensive and said it squanders an opportunity to fully address climate change.
Alabama company has until 2033 to plug wells or put them back into production
How a young team at CMU helped expand the fledgling field of robotics.
Energy Transfer, parent company of Sunoco Logistics and builder of the Mariner East natural gas liquids pipelines, is the target of a Chester County grand jury investigation.
A new report finds coal ash pollution is leaking into groundwater at nine power plants around Pennsylvania and over 200 nationwide. West Pa. site has arsenic 372 times the ‘safe’ level
Nearly 130,000 homes in the U.S. still burn coal for heat. Despite decades of decline and concerns about climate change, companies in the coal home-heating business are optimistic about the future.
Sunoco’s parent company admitted it made mistakes in building the Mariner East pipelines through Pennsylvania, and told investors that it will do better in future, but its assurances failed to persuade critics that the project will become any safer for the public or more protective of the environment.
Draft legislation aimed at helping Pennsylvania’s ailing nuclear industry would reclassify the plants as “zero emission energy” and create new requirements about how electric companies are to purchase power.
Pittsburgh researchers are working on potentially cheaper ways to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants. So-called “clean coal” technology is expensive, but some experts say it’s crucial to address climate change.
Europe’s investments in offshore wind have fueled better technology, more competition and cheaper capital for new projects. That’s driven down the cost of offshore power and now the US is capitalizing on the savings.
Theresa Alt was one of two people who stopped by for a visit. Alt met Tuesday with staff at Congressman Tom Reed’s Ithaca office. That office last opened its doors two weeks ago, but there were no visitors. This time, people showed up.
A raft of bills on pipeline safety may have a better chance of becoming law in Pennsylvania after Gov. Tom Wolf formally backed some of them in a statement that strongly criticized Sunoco’s construction of the Mariner East pipelines.
Jobs in Pennsylvania’s solar industry grew 10 percent last year, while declining three percent nationally, according to a new analysis.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says Energy Transfer hasn’t complied with an order related to the recent explosion of the Revolution pipeline outside Pittsburgh, so it has halted reviews of new water crossing permits the company wants for its natural gas liquids lines Mariner East 2 and 2x.
Chester County community meeting airs continuing public concerns on safety of Mariner East pipelines
As residents of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest stayed indoors this week to avoid the Arctic air that swept the region, they used a lot of electricity and natural gas to keep warm.
The fee Pennsylvania collects from natural gas drillers is expected to reach a record $247 million this year, according to figures released Thursday by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office.
A worker on Sunoco’s Mariner East project has threatened a Chester County opponent of the pipeline on social media in two posts that included an obscenity.
A Pennsylvania court said the Department of Environmental Protection unlawfully issued air-quality permits to Sunoco for its natural gas liquids plant at Marcus Hook in Delaware County, and it ordered the department to re-do its analysis over whether the plant should be subject to two sets of emissions rules.
Peoples Gas in western Pennsylvania has outfitted a vehicle that will drive over 950 miles of the utility’s pipelines in Pittsburgh this year using a high-tech system to find places where methane leaks into the air.
New Jersey’s attorney general says PennEast Pipeline Co. can’t legally sue the state for access to more than 40 parcels of protected land, and argues that a federal judge was wrong to rule that the company could do so.
Natural gas companies must pay millions of dollars in outstanding impact fees to the state, following a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling.
Homeowners focus on integrity of repurposed 12-inch pipeline first built in 1930s
Utility company Con Edison says the light emanated from “a sustained electrical arc flash that was visible across a wide area.” Witnesses had many other ideas.
Natural gas production in Pennsylvania is expected to reach a new high by year’s end: 6 trillion cubic feet. Drillers extracted 13 percent more gas in the first three quarters of 2018 than during the same period the previous year, according to a recent report from the state’s Independent Fiscal Office.
Sunoco said in November that it would start operations of the frequently delayed Mariner East 2 pipeline by the end of 2018.
While the bulk of solar energy in Pennsylvania exists in the eastern half of the state, co-ops are popping up across western part of the commonwealth to help people go solar.
Investigators at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said on Tuesday they didn’t confirm that the 12-inch pipeline component of Mariner East 2 was safe, despite a statement by Sunoco that they had done so.
The Chester County District Attorney said Wednesday he is opening a criminal investigation into Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline project because it has caused sinkholes, contaminated water and has resulted in “not so subtle bullying” of residents.
Cheaper to produce winter blend gas, a low demand and low oil prices have all contributed to pump prices reaching their lowest point of the year.
Investigators at the Public Utility Commission blamed corrosion for a leak of natural gas liquids from Sunoco’s Mariner East 1 pipeline in April 2017, and said they are concerned about the company’s corrosion-control program throughout the ageing statewide line.
The PennEast Pipeline Co. can take private land through eminent domain to build a natural gas pipeline, a New Jersey federal judge ruled on Friday.
Pennsylvania environmental officials have come out with a plan to reduce leaks from thousands of the state’s oil and gas wells.
Suit brought by seven residents fails on all four requirements
“We’re not dead yet, we’ve still got a pulse in Mahanoy City. Thank God Trump lifted all the regulations on coal…coal is gonna be king.”
A federal judge granted PennEast Pipeline Co. the right of eminent domain to build its pipeline on a property in Carbon County, in the first ruling of its kind over the controversial project in a Pennsylvania court.
For some, this may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it also can be a more hazardous time on the roads. That’s according to GasBuddy, which is out with a new study that suggests drivers are 175 percent more aggressive during the holidays than the rest of the year.
A worst-case explosion of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in PA’s Delaware County would kill anyone within about a mile of the rupture, a new report says, but it concludes the chances of someone dying from a pipeline incident are less than that of dying in a car crash or from falling down stairs.
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – An administrative law judge for the state Public Utility Commission heard testimony this week on whether Sunoco can operate its controversial Mariner East pipelines — a set of export lines moving natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania — while the judge reviews a request to permanently shut down the lines.
Pennsylvania could avoid a “devastating and permanent blow” to its economy and environment if it considers the ways other states have helped bail out their own failing nuclear plants, according to a long-awaited legislative analysis.
If New York state hopes to reach a goal of getting half of its electricity from renewable resources by the year 2030, wind energy will have to be part of the formula. That was the focus of a wind summit held in Syracuse this week, and boosters of wind power are optimistic it will happen.
Permit will cover 16 newly discovered seeps coming out of Little Blue
STATE IMPACT PENNSYLVANIA – A 12-inch pipeline that Sunoco plans to use as a temporary part of the Mariner East project has passed state and federal safety inspections, according to a letter from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s head of pipeline safety.