Plans have been initiated to create two underground facilities in Appalachia to store ethane, a natural gas drilling byproduct, in hopes of revitalizing a region recovering from decades-long industrial and manufacturing job loss. The availability of ethane at these storage facilities, experts say, could help eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia attract petrochemical plants that would turn ethane into raw plastic and bring in manufacturing companies to produce everyday products. Colorado-based Energy Storage Ventures is awaiting approval on state permits to construct one of these underground storage facilities to store not only ethane, but also other natural gas liquids. In addition, Appalachia Development Group, based in Charleston, West Virginia, is looking to build a large storage facility in the region, which could lead to billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs, according to the company’s president and CEO, Steven Hedrick.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s petition for certiorari, which challenged a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit that addressed Pennsylvania’s water quality certification for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company LLC’s Atlantic Sunrise Project. The high court denial is yet another success for the Transco project since Atlantic Sunrise first filed its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission application to construct and operate expansion facilities in 2015.
Late last summer, the 3rd Circuit rejected four challenges, raised by Delaware Riverkeeper and other environmental protection organizations, concerning the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection certification under the Clean Water Act. The 3rd Circuit’s findings and accompanying decision, combined with the Supreme Court’s denial, has farther-reaching implications as well: It strengthens a state’s discretionary permitting authority under statutes like the CWA.
In its release of the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed that despite the significant growth of the nation’s natural gas distribution systems, greenhouse gas emissions from those systems have steadily decreased. According to the report, GHG emissions have declined 73 percent since 1990, even as the industry added nearly 760,000 miles of distribution mains and services for 20 million more customers. Safety—one of the industry’s top priorities—technology improvements and infrastructure replacement are considered three of the main factors leading to the exceptional record of GHG emissions reduction in the industry.
Over several months, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has been working with Sector Coordinating Councils; the State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Government Coordinating Council; associated sector-specific agencies; and other partners to create a set of National Critical Functions. CISA defines these functions as those of government and the private sector so vital to the United States that their disruption, corruption or dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Functions related to the natural gas industry include: maintain supply chains; transport cargo and passengers by rail, road, vessel and pipeline; develop and maintain public works and services; provide and maintain infrastructure; store fuel and maintain reserves; exploration and extraction of fuels; fuel refining and processing fuels; and other related functions. “Ultimately, the set of National Critical Functions is a launching pad for executing a more advanced approach to cybersecurity and critical infrastructure security and resilience. The National Critical Functions do not directly set national priorities, but they support a more strategic way of doing so,” CISA stated. The next step for the agency will be to create a risk register to identify various scenarios, dependencies, risk attributes and readiness.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved two new liquefied natural gas export projects: Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur LNG project in Texas and Tellurian Inc.’s proposed $28 billion Driftwood terminal in Louisiana. Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG project is expected to include two liquefaction trains and up to three LNG storage tanks that will allow for the export of approximately 11 million tons per annum of LNG, according to a Sempra news release. As for the Tellurian project, a final investment decision will be made later this year, according to Joi Lecznar, the company’s senior vice president of public affairs and communication. In an email to Bloomberg, Tellurian CEO Meg Gentle spoke about job growth related to new projects such as Driftwood, which is expected to be operational by 2023: “Our investment in critical new U.S. infrastructure will create approximately 6,400 construction jobs and nearly 400 new permanent jobs when fully operational.”
After nearly 20 years of steady annual growth of renewable energy net capacity, 2018 saw an unexpected flattening of growth from 2017, according to the International Energy Agency. 2018 was the first year since 2001 that growth in renewable energy capacity did not increase year over year. To deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement, global renewables capacity additions need to grow by an average of more than 300 gigawatts every year through 2030, the IEA said. Last year’s additions represented around 60 percent of that annual goal. The IEA defines renewable technologies as hydropower, bioenergy, wind, solar photovoltaic and other renewables.
Several American Gas Association members were honored on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of 2019 ENERGY STAR award winners. Most AGA members on the list were recognized as Partner of the Year recipients in the Energy Efficiency Program Delivery category. Those members include: BGE; Black Hills Energy; CenterPoint Energy; Columbia Gas of Ohio; Consolidated Edison; Consumers Energy; Energize Connecticut in partnership with Eversource Energy; AVANGRID Inc. subsidiaries UI, SCG and CNG; National Grid; New Mexico Gas Company; and PECO Energy. In addition, Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation was recognized for Excellence in ENERGY STAR Promotion.
Utilities planning for the coming winter could look to Columbia Gas of Maryland’s and Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania’s “Cold Weather Minute” campaign, which utilized social media to educate its customers. The utilities leveraged the connectivity of Facebook and Twitter to post weekly practical tips and guidelines on issues that customers face during colder times of year, including information on general safety, how to conserve energy, how to save on energy costs, appliance-related safety tips and more. Beyond this campaign, both subsidiaries of Columbia Gas offer further information on safety and energy efficiency year-round on their websites, with information on everything from disaster preparedness to carbon monoxide detection to emergency phone numbers.