Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Natural Gas Bill Dispute Lingers Amid Partisan Anger

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Pennsylvania’s newly passed bill imposing fees on natural gas drillers charges the industry far too little, doesn’t do enough to protect the environment, and was drafted in secret by Republican lawmakers who sought to curtail public debate on the measure, Democrats in the state claim.

House Democrats, who lost the decisive vote on the measure last week, argued that Republicans kept the 174-page bill under wraps until less than 24 hours before it was debated on the House floor because they were concerned that parts of it would be so unpopular among the public that it would fail to pass the legislature. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 13, 2012 at 3:00 PM

Pennsylvania To Impose Impact Fee On Gas Drillers

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Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would impose fees on natural gas companies drilling in the state’s Marcellus Shale formation and allow the revenue to be used by local communities to offset the impact of the state’s booming shale-gas industry.

If signed into law as expected by Governor Tom Corbett, the bill will end Pennsylvania’s status as the only US gas-producing state that does not impose any kind of levy on energy companies for natural gas drilling. Keep reading →

 /  Published February 8, 2012 at 4:35 PM

Pennsylvania Wind Farm Will Rise Thanks To Unlikely Partnership

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A private-equity firm, a wind energy developer, a state funding program, an agricultural community leader and a group of university administrators have all been part of the story behind a 30 MW utility-scale wind farm going up in three townships in rural Pennsylvania.

Patton Wind Farm plans to sell power into the merchant market, Brooklyn-based developer OwnEnergy said in announcing today the sale of the project to European private equity firm Terra Firma’s EverPower Wind Holding subsidiary. The project already has an interconnection with local electricity market operator PJM Interconnection. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 20, 2011 at 9:45 AM

Booming Gas Industry Faces Production Tax In Pennsylvania

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Plans to tax the booming natural gas industry in Pennsylvania were the focus of dueling bills among state lawmakers on Wednesday, with proposed tax rates varying between one and three percent of revenue from production.

A bill passed by the Republican-controlled Senate late Tuesday would tax the industry at about 3 percent, while a House amendment being debated Wednesday seeks a rate of 1 percent, which would be the lowest of any gas-producing state. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 16, 2011 at 2:00 PM

Voting With Their Dollars: Customers Resist Power Switching

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Most Pennsylvania residents are aware that they can shop for electricity suppliers other than their utilities but only about a quarter have switched away from default suppliers more than two years after the state began restructuring its retail power market, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission heard on Thursday.

The panel held a special en banc hearing in its ongoing retail markets investigation which aims to boost competition and consumer choice in reforms that are being closely watched across the US as a model of deregulation. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 14, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Midnight Pennsylvania Explosion Fuels New Marcellus Gas Safety Concerns

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A natural gas compressor station in southern Pennsylvania exploded overnight Thursday, prompting the evacuation of about 150 people and raising concerns about safety amid the shale-gas boom that is spreading throughout the state.

A local resident reported a “loud noise” at the Artemas Compressor Station in Mann Township, Bedford County, at about 12:30 a.m., according to Shawn Trahan, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Columbia Gas Transmission, part of NiSource, which operates the station. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 3, 2011 at 2:45 PM
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