Manchin

As the federal debt ceiling approaches, congressional leaders, federal agencies and natural gas industry advocates are increasingly looking to get permitting reform bills off the ground and up for consideration in a potential federal budget package.  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) earlier this month reupped his legislation, the Building American Energy Security Act of 2023 (BAESA),…

FERC is making “significant strides” to address energy infrastructure permitting, considered essential to the nation’s security, according to Acting Chairman Willie Phillips.  Addressing a recent Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Phillips and his fellow commissioners answered questions about the challenges facing the nation’s energy systems. Phillips also addressed the contentious issue of reforming…

U.S. businesses across the country, including natural gas and oil groups, are urging Congress to enact “meaningful, durable permitting reform” by summer’s end. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce organized the collaboration of more than 200 state and local chambers, as well as business, policy and labor organizations. In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, the…

Equitrans Midstream Corp.’s (EQM) long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) may gain some necessary permits within the next few months, “which will allow us then to bring MVP into service in 2023,” said CEO Thomas Karam.  EQM is expecting the biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by next Tuesday, “and based on the…

President Biden, who has championed a zero-carbon emissions future, on Tuesday acknowledged that the United States would need oil and natural gas for at least another decade. However, his silence on exploration and production permitting reform was deafening for some politicos and industry groups. The comments were not part of the prepared remarks in the…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army have issued a proposed redefinition of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in a move that has the potential to affect natural gas infrastructure projects.  Before closing off 2022, the EPA and Army in…

Senate Democrats removed language on comprehensive permitting reform from an emergency government funding bill passed late Tuesday in a defeat for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and the natural gas industry. Manchin had voted in favor of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) on the condition that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) include an…

Competitive Power Venture Inc. (CPV) has proposed a 1,800 MW combined-cycle natural gas power plant in West Virginia that could allow the Appalachian Basin production leader to create and distribute more low-carbon power. CPV announced the potential $3 billion investment in Charleston, WV, earlier this month alongside Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Maryland-based CPV also disclosed…

An overhaul of natural gas pipeline permitting by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is set to be included in a congressional spending package this week, but some House Democrats and now Senate Republicans are balking, with the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) caught in the crosshairs. Stopgap spending legislation, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is likely…