Friday, November 7th 2014

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s POWERSOURCE:

“Sunoco announced Thursday that it is pulling the trigger on a second pipeline meant to carry natural gas liquids from southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia to the industrial complex southwest of Philadelphia.

The $2.5 billion pipeline dubbed Mariner East 2, with a proposed capacity of 275,000 barrels per day (b/​d), is the second phase of the company’s plans to ship natural gas liquids across the state.

Sunoco is in the process of re-purposing Mariner East 1, a crude pipeline that spans 300 miles between Delmont in Westmoreland County and Marcus Hook. That project has a capacity of 70,000 b/​d and is expected to begin shipping propane by the end of the year. The system will add ethane by mid-2015, executives said on Thursday’s quarterly earnings call.

Mariner East 2 will start in Ohio and run through the panhandle of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania until it meets up with its predecessor in Houston, Washington County. From there, the lines will run parallel to the east coast.

At Marcus Hook, natural gas liquids can be shipped to local and regional markets or exported to international customers.”

Read more at POWERSOURCE

Friday, August 22nd 2014

From StateImpact PA:

“Drillers in Pennsylvania continue to produce record-breaking amounts of natural gas, according to new numbers released this week from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Companies operating in Pennsylvania produced nearly 2 trillion cubic feet of gas in the first half of 2014.

If they continue at this pace, Pennsylvania is on track to produce 4 trillion cubic feet this year– or about 16 percent of what the entire United States consumes annually.”

Read more at StateImpact PA:

Monday, August 11th 2014

From StateImpactPA:

‘PPL Electric Utilities is looking to build a new multi-billion dollar transmission line to keep up with natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale and the changing landscape of power generation.

If approved by regulators, the high-voltage power line is still a decade away but PPL has started planning.

The transmission line would start in Western Pennsylvania and run 725 miles through the state’s Northern Tier, into New Jersey and New York, as well as southward into Maryland.

The project would cost between $4 and 6 billion, according to PPL spokesman Paul Wirth.

“The gas industry is one of the impetuses behind it,” he says. “The other is that by starting in Western Pennsylvania we can bring existing supplies of lower-cost power—fueled by renewables and other sources—into this region.”’

Read the full article at StateImpactPA.

Monday, July 28th 2014

From Keystone Edge:

Wayne’s Independence LED Lighting is celebrating its namesake holiday all month with a $10 million giveaway program to small businesses.

The maker of LED tubes and LED fixtures will cover up to $10,000 per business for the first 1,000 that register this month. Services include a cash-for-clunkers buy back on fluorescent tubes (when replaced with LED lighting), a lighting savings analysis, manufacturer-direct pricing, zero-cost financing and free installation.

Independence moved its manufacturing from China to Pennsylvania in 2010 in order to increase quality assurance, reduce transportation costs and improve delivery time to its customer base, concentrated between Washington, D.C. and New York City, says CEO Charlie Szoradi.

Read more at Keystone Edge.

Tuesday, June 24th 2014

Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled that recently announced plans to limit CO2 emissions from power plants was a valid and legal effort by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This means that, barring additional legal challenge, the EPA will move forward with its plan to reduce Pennsylvania power plant emissions by 32% over the next 15 years by allowing the Commonwealth to create and implement its own emissions reduction strategy.

From the Washington Post:

“The Supreme Court on Monday mostly validated the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to regulate major sources of greenhouse-gas emissions such as power plants and factories but said the agency had gone too far in interpreting its power.

The court’s bifurcated opinion on one hand criticized the agency for trying to rewrite provisions of the Clean Air Act. But it nevertheless granted the Obama administration and environmentalists a big victory by agreeing that there are other ways for the EPA to reach its goal of regulating the gases that contribute to global warming.”

Read the full article on WashingtonPost.com

Tuesday, June 3rd 2014

From StateImpact PA:

Pennsylvania would be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 32 percent over the next 15 years under new federal regulations announced on Monday.

It is the first time the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed regulations specifically aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions generated by the nation’s power plants. And it is one of the Obama administration’s key initiatives to address climate change.

“The overall goal is a 30 percent reduction in emissions nationwide by the year 2030. States will be directed to craft plans to meet their own specific targets. In a conference call with reporters, senior agency officials said the targets are based on a number of factors, including the state’s current energy mix and proximity to natural gas supplies. Click here to see the EPA’s interactive map showing each state’s emission targets.

The agency’s emphasis on flexibility for the states was a relief to Jake Smeltz, president of Pennsylvania’s Electric Power Generation Association, an industry trade group.

“We didn’t want a command and control approach,” Smeltz said. “What we wanted and asked for is that each state be the driver. Let the federal government create the target and let state governments figure out how to reach it.”

New focus on energy efficiency, natural gas and renewables

Smeltz predicts Pennsylvania will get credit for the efforts it has already made to lower emissions, beef up energy efficiency programs and see more power plants switching from coal to natural gas.

Today’s proposal is the latest in a suite of new regulations aimed at power plants. Last fall, the agency proposed rules to limit emissions from all future power plants.”

Read more at StateImpact PA

Friday, May 23rd 2014

From StateImpact PA:

In the past few years, the Marcellus Shale has rapidly become one of the most productive gas plays on the planet. But for many people in Southeastern Pennsylvania– the state’s most populated region– the boom has been out-of-sight and out-of-mind.

Until now.

The region is beginning to experience the tradeoffs long familiar to those who live on top of the Shale—more job opportunities and more disruption.

“It’s at our door”

Sherry Wolfe lives in Lebanon County and is upset about plans to build a new natural gas pipeline through the area.

“We all know what’s going on in the Marcellus Shale,” she says. “But it seems like it’s far away. Now it’s here. It’s at our door, and it’s frightening.”

The pipeline is part of a larger $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise expansion by Oklahoma-based pipeline company, Williams Partners.

Williams already operates the Transco system, which has over 10,000 miles of pipeline moving gas to other businesses, like utility companies and power plants. The Atlantic Sunrise project would increase Transco’s capacity by about 20 percent.

The new pipeline would also cut through several nature preserves in Lancaster County. When word of that got out, a local group quickly formed to fight the project.

The group is led by Southern Lancaster County resident Malinda Clatterbuck.

“A lot of people who live in the southern end feel the same way I do,” she says. “We live here for a reason. We like the privacy, we like the beauty, we like the peace and serenity and the nature that’s around us.”

Williams spokesman Chris Stockton says although this pipeline expansion project isn’t designed to bring Marcellus gas to Pennsylvanians, it will serve millions of other people—in cities like Baltimore, Washington D.C. and as far south as Alabama.

“[The Atlantic Sunrise project] is not designed to serve Pennsylvania,” he says. “But it could potentially in the future. The gas in the Transco system already provides about a third of the gas consumed in Pennsylvania.”

The Williams line is just one of many new infrastructure projects in the works, to make use of the state’s abundant natural gas resources.

A report by the Moody’s investment firm issued earlier this month noted how the Northeastern United States is rearranging the flow of gas pipeline systems to accommodate the rapid growth from the Marcellus Shale:

The latest round of projects involves changing what a pipeline was built to do, such as reversing the direction of flow or repurposing to transport liquids rather than gas. These target new demand such as [liquefied natural gas] export terminals and gas-fired power facilities that are being built.

More gas-related infrastructure may be on the way.

In neighboring Berks County Canadian developer, EmberClear, is proposing a $1 billion plant that would convert natural gas into more expensive gasoline. However, hundreds of angry residents have been packing public meetings to oppose the idea.

Meanwhile Chester County has become a natural nexus for pipelines, with its proximity to major cities along the East Coast.

Sunoco Logistics’ plans to put in a new pump station in West Goshen Township to transport natural gas liquids from the Marcellus Shale to its Marcus Hook refinery is also seeing strong local resistance.

Last month Pennsylvania’s Joint Legislative Conservation Committee held a public hearing there to discuss ways to expand state oversight of pipelines.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D- Chester) has introduced a package of bills aimed at improving transparency and protecting environment resources.

“All we’re trying to do is make sure every township, every citizen, has information when it comes to the placing of pipelines.”

“It’s enabled us to withstand the recession”

The emerging business from oil and gas boom in Southeastern Pennsylvania has also brought new job opportunities. The rapid increase in crude oil production from North Dakota has helped to revive Philadelphia’s refineries.

Outside Philadelphia, the West Chester headquarters of drill-rig manufacturer Schramm is buzzing with sounds of new work.

The company has been around since 1900, but recently picked up more work building the big rigs that tower over Marcellus Shale well pads.

David Metzger grew up in Philadelphia and now works for Schramm. He designs and tests the equipment for the rigs and says they’ve upgraded the controls to make things easier on the operators.

“We tried to put all the main functions onto joysticks, and that means the operator remembers all the commands through muscle memory. He doesn’t have to look at a panel, he can keep his eyes on the drill floor and that makes rig operation a whole lot safer.”

When the recession hit it 2008, Lancaster-based environmental engineering firm Rettew faced a downturn in its business, but quickly pivoted toward working for Marcellus Shale companies.

Rettew president Mark Lauriello says in the past five years, the company has opened five new offices and nearly doubled its workforce– thanks to the energy industry.

“It’s enabled us to withstand the recession and grow through the recession,” he says. “It’s provided a lot of opportunities for our employees for different types of work and opportunity for advancement.”

The impact on southeastern Pennsylvania could grow as energy companies continue to develop the gas and expand to international markets. Federal regulators are evaluating plans to develop a liquefied natural gas export terminal along the Chesapeake Bay.

It would be the closest such facility to the Marcellus Shale and could make Pennsylvania a global energy hub meaning more jobs and more tradeoffs.

Read more at StateImpact PA.