Facts & Rumors # 583
February 1, 2025
NatGas Generated 57% of PA Electricity. Natural gas-fired electric power generation has increased in Pennsylvania since 2013 as the state has shifted toward natural gas as its main fuel source for electric power generation. In October 2024, natural gas-fired generation accounted for 57% of the electricity generated in Pennsylvania, more than twice the share in October 2013 (26%). Over the past decade, natural gas has become the primary fuel source for electricity generation in the state, surpassing coal-fired generation in 2016 on an annual basis and nuclear-powered generation in 2019. Natural gas-fired generation reached an all-time monthly peak in Pennsylvania of 15.3 million megawatt hours (MWh) in July 2024, as hourly electricity demand peaked across multiple regions of the Lower 48 states due to widespread heatwaves.
From 2013 to 2023, fuel consumption for electricity generation in Pennsylvania shifted from mostly coal to natural gas. Pennsylvania sits on top of the Marcellus shale play within the Appalachian Basin where dry natural gas production has more than doubled in the past decade. Dry natural gas production in Pennsylvania increased from 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2013 to 20.8 Bcf/d in 2023, as the cost of natural gas fell compared with other energy sources. In addition, power generators in the state made investments in new technologies that increased the efficiency of natural gas as a source of power generation such as combined-cycle gas turbines, which use heat from natural gas turbines to run steam turbines to generate power from both.
More power is now generated in Pennsylvania than is consumed, prompting generators to send surplus electricity to other states. In 2023, power companies in Pennsylvania sent more electricity outside state borders than companies in any other state in the country, moving 83.4 million MWh to neighboring states.
Trump Vows ‘Super-Rapid Approval’ for Big-Ticket Energy Projects. E&E News. President Donald Trump told Republicans gathered at his Miami-area resort Monday night that he’s going to fast-track environmental approvals for new power plants, impose tariffs on some minerals and free up land to mine for rare earths. “I’m going to give fast environmental approval for anybody building a plant for electric generation, and anybody that invests more than $1 billion will get super-rapid approval,” Trump said at the annual policy retreat. “I approved LNG plants in Louisiana, they were waiting for so many years.”
Trump Tariffs Generating Interest In U.S. NatGas. Specter of Trump tariffs spurs interest in U.S. gas contracts. Bloomberg. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes bid to use natural gas exports as leverage to expand US influence in Europe and Asia appears to be gaining early traction. Government officials and energy executives from countries such as India, Kuwait and Japan have been holding talks about procuring more US gas, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
New Driller in OH. Thanks, MDN. Last fall, MDN told you about a newly formed drilling company that aims to target the Ohio Utica Shale, a company called Tiburon Oil & Gas Partners, LLC (see Former Carrizo O&G Team Forms New Company to Drill in Ohio Utica). The company was founded by four former executives from Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. The company is backed with money from Post Oak Energy Capital. We’d not heard anything further about the company…until now.
Chevron Moving Aggressively into AI Data Centers. Chevron plots massive gas plant build-out for data centers. E&E News. Chevron announced Tuesday it would help deliver a fleet of gas plants to power data centers, joining a trend of fossil fuel companies seeking a market in the country’s artificial intelligence boom. The oil and gas giant said it would partner with San Francisco-based investment firm Engine No. 1 to deliver “multi gigawatt-scale” power plants that will plug directly into data centers.
EU Won’t Ban Russian LNG. EU won’t ban Russian LNG until it secures alternatives, diplomats say. Reuters. The European Commission did not propose a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas in its latest package of sanctions because member states raised concerns about first securing alternatives including from the United States, EU diplomats said. “First you have to have a deal because otherwise you will be left without gas from Russia and without the U.S.,” one of the diplomats said. In June last year, the European Union banned transshipments of Russian LNG in a further package of restrictions on Russia imposed over its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Diversified’ s Permian Deal. Natural gas firm Diversified Energy strikes deal for Permian Basin player. Wall Street Journal. Diversified Energy is in advanced talks to buy private-equity-owned Maverick Natural Resources in what would be its largest acquisition ever, according to people familiar with the matter. A deal would value Maverick at roughly $1.3 billion, including debt, and could be announced as soon as early Monday. The combined company would be worth about $3.8 billion, including debt, the people said. (Diversified Energy is expected to assume some $700 million of Maverick’s debt outstanding.) The Birmingham, Ala.-based company had a market value of more than $800 million as of Friday.
New FERC Commissioner Needs to Fix PJM. Mark Christie’s FERC is tasked with fixing PJM. E&E News. Mark Christie comes to his new job as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission having spent years developing his thoughts on the Eastern grid operator plagued by spiraling costs and tightening power supplies. The FERC chair prides himself on bluntly assessing PJM, which serves 65 million Americans in the Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic regions. Its longer-term capacity market is “Rube Goldberg-esque.” PJM is anything but a free market, he says, and it suffers from “hopeless complexity.” Christie’s elevation to FERC chair comes as the commission is under pressure to address tighter power supplies and soaring costs inside PJM territory.
New FERC Chairman to Approve Pipeline Applications. New FERC chairman talks electric bills, energy demand and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Cardinal News. While he’s spent years as a government regulator deeply immersed in decisions that affect people’s electric and gas bills, Mark Christie says his upbringing in coal country gave him a perspective he never forgets. So MVP or any other pipeline, if they come in and they apply and they meet the standards under the Natural Gas Act, then the Natural Gas Act tells FERC, “You shall approve the application.” It’s that simple.
PA Gov to Fast Track and Subsidize Power Plants and Hydrogen Projects. Pennsylvania Governor rolls out plan to fast-track and subsidize power plants, hydrogen projects. Associated Press. Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday that he wants to fast-track the construction of big power plants in Pennsylvania and offer hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for projects that provide electricity to the grid and use hydrogen. Shapiro’s announcement comes a few days before he delivers his third budget proposal to lawmakers amid an energy crunch that threatens to raise electricity bills across Pennsylvania, the nation’s second-biggest natural gas-producing state.
UGI and Stonehenge Energy Purchase Superior Midstream Appalachian. Thanks, MDN. Pine Run Gathering LLC, a joint venture owned by Stonehenge Energy and UGI, announced yesterday that it had completed a transaction to buy Superior Midstream Appalachian, LLC, for $120 million. Superior Appalachian owns and operates three gathering systems in Pennsylvania, namely Pittsburgh Mills (Allegheny & Butler counties), Snow Shoe (Centre County), and Brookfield (Tioga County). The Pittsburgh Mills system is connected to UGI’s Big Pine gathering system. All three have a combined daily flow of approximately 190 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d).
FERC Approves Transco Pipeline Expansion. FERC affirms approval for Transco pipeline expansion in remanded case. Rigzone. The United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has redeclared its decision to grant authorization for an Atlantic pipeline expansion project by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco). The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had issued voidance and remanded to FERC a case challenging the Commission’s Certificate and Abandonment Authorization for the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project.
Data Centers Booming in TX. Data centers are booming in Texas. What does that mean for the grid? Texas Standard. The rise of artificial intelligence, the digitization of the economy and everyday life’s growing computing needs have turbocharged the expansion of data centers, driving up a surge in electricity demand in Texas and across the country. Texas’ main grid operator predicts power demand will nearly double by 2030, in part due to more requests to plug into the grid from large users like data centers, crypto mining facilities, hydrogen production plants and oil and gas companies. Texas will serve as ground zero, with 10 data centers by the venture already under construction in the state and 10 more on the way.
PA January 20, to January 30, 2025
County Township E&P Companies
1. No New Permits
OH January 19, to January 25, 2025
County Township E&P Companies
1. Guernsey Wills INR OHIO
2. Guernsey Wills INR OHIO
3. Guernsey Wills INR OHIO
4. Guernsey Wills INR OHIO
WV Permits January 20, to January 24, 2025
1. Wetzel EQT
2. Wetzel EQT
3. Wetzel EQT
4. Wetzel EQT
