Natural Gas News – January 23, 2018

Natural Gas News – January 23, 2018

FERC Approves PennEast, Saying It Would Supply Needed Natural Gas

State Impact Pennsylvania reported: The PennEast pipeline project took a step forward late Friday when federal regulators decided the company could start construction and potentially use eminent domain to take private land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Other permits from New Jersey and the Delaware River Basin Commission are needed before construction can begin. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted the PennEast Pipeline Co. a “certificate of public convenience and necessity” to build the pipeline, and said it accepts that the company has obtained commitments from 12 named customers to buy about 90 percent of the natural gas that would be carried by the line. The contracts show there is a need for the pipeline “given the substantial financial commitment required under these contracts by project shippers,” FERC said in an 84-page document that describes its evaluation of the project. It rejected arguments by opponents including the New Jersey Rate Counsel, an advocate for utility ratepayers, who say there is no need for the approximately 120-mile line that would carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale of Luzerne County, Pa. to Mercer County, N.J.

Natural Gas Will Fuel More Electricity Over Next Two Years, Federal Agency Forecasts

Trib Live reported: Natural gas will continue to edge out coal as the primary fuel source for electric power plants for at least the next two years, the Energy Information Administration predicts. If correct, the federal agency forecast anticipates both industries remaining fairly constant with natural gas increasing its share of the power market from 32 percent in 2017 to 34 percent by 2019. Coal will see a slight decline from 30 percent in 2017 to 28 percent in 2019.