Babst Calland Alert - On December 2, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a pre-publication version of its final Standards of Performance for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Oil and Natural Gas Sector Climate Review (Final Rule). This Alert (article) focuses on critical aspects of the Final Rule, including key changes that EPA made since issuing the Proposals.

The recent killing of a proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Allegheny County by environmental activists is a big deal in several respects: Big, as in its significance in the battle to keep our lights on. Big, as in the amount of land that solar would require to make up for the electricity the plant would have generated.

The case now goes to the PA Supreme Court, which is packed with Democrats. However, the PA Senate, controlled by Republicans and a growing list of energy groups, will make the case before the Supremes that the RGGI carbon tax should be dead once and for all. We have several stories to share about our side lining up to fight Shapiro at the Supreme Court

Governor Shapiro’s decision to appeal a 4-1 Commonwealth Court ruling to affirm the Pennsylvania Legislature’s role in enacting state taxes is extremely unfortunate and ill-advised.

November marks the time when nearly every energy consumer in Pennsylvania decides to turn up the thermostat and start heating their homes or apartments. With about 66 percent of residential properties in the state relying on natural gas to make them comfortable, it also kicks the system to deliver that energy - safely and reliably - into high gear. With most people unaware of the steps involved to get natural gas from where it is produced to where it is needed, PIOGA thought it made sense to offer a primer about supplying gas from wells to end users – a process that requires an intricate system of pipelines and infrastructure, involving the work of many trained and skilled technical professionals along the way, and regulated by state and federal agencies.

Opinion piece by State Rep. Bryan Cutler (100th District). The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rightly recently rejected an effort by prior Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to unlawfully impose an energy tax on Pennsylvanians by entering the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, also known as RGGI.

A Pennsylvania court ruled Wednesday that former Gov. Tom Wolf (D) unlawfully joined an interstate carbon emissions payment program without legislative approval. In an opinion written by Judge Michael Wojcik, a five-judge panel of Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court found that membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) constitutes an illegal tax. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit included a coalition of energy companies and unions representing fossil fuel workers.

Republican lawmakers welcome the state’s future hydrogen hubs as the next step in energy production that balances environmental conservation with economic growth. The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) based in Philadelphia and the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub (ARC2) based in West Virginia will bring $1.7 billion in federal largesse to the commonwealth and “billions more in commitments from the private-sector companies,” Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington, said during a press conference Tuesday.

President Joe Biden on Friday announced the locations of seven regional hubs to manufacture hydrogen. Biden made the announcement alongside Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at the Tioga Marine Terminal in the Port of Philadelphia – which will eventually use hydrogen produced from renewable energy and nuclear power at a new Mid-Atlantic hydrogen hub comprising parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

President Joe Biden’s administration will travel to Pennsylvania Friday to announce federal funding for two hydrogen hub projects in the state — including one based in West Virginia that would include development in Western Pennsylvania — as part of $7 billion in federal grants from the Department of Energy, according to a report by Reuters.