Pennsylvania’s natural gas impact tax generated a record $251.8 million in 2018, bringing the seven-year total to $1.7 billion in new revenue for communities and statewide environmental and conservation programs. “Local governments rely on impact tax revenues to fund a host of priorities, including enhancing road and bridge infrastructure, flood mitigation and prevention, emergency response […]
Post-Gazette’s Claims on Childhood Cancer Unsupported by Medical Experts, Science
May 14, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
As an industry focused on enhancing public health and safety, we’re deeply disappointed in the Post-Gazette’s continued efforts to sensationalize tragedy through unsubstantiated claims regarding regional childhood cancer cases. “Our hearts break for anyone battling cancer,” MSC’s David Spigelmyer told the paper. “Given our industry’s deep commitment to protecting the health, safety and environment […]
This Earth Day, Celebrate Natural Gas
April 22, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Earth Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate the meaningful environmental progress made possible through the production and use of clean, abundant American natural gas. As Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler told the SHALE INSIGHT audience in October, thanks to natural gas, “we are the global leader in clear air progress.” For the tens […]
MSC Member Profile: Shale Development Propels Central Pennsylvania Engineering Firm into National Player
April 15, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
“I’ve got to be part of that,” top Dawood leader says of America’s shale revolution. As part of MSC’s Member Profile series, we recently sat down with Jim Rodgers and Nick Brien of Dawood, a central Pennsylvania-based engineering firm that’s seized the opportunity of the shale revolution to grow into a national firm. This interview […]
President Trump’s Executive Orders Advance American Energy Dominance
April 11, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Pennsylvania’s energy job-creators joined manufacturers and top building trades union leaders, among others, to applaud President Trump’s signing yesterday of two executive orders that will help expand and modernize America’s energy infrastructure. The Executive Orders are expected to streamline federal permitting and ease unnecessary regulatory roadblocks for new pipeline construction and LNG export terminals. Joining […]
Pa. Leads Nation in Clean, Affordable Natural Gas Power Generation Growth
March 11, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Pennsylvania accounted for one-quarter of the growth in highly efficient, clean natural gas power generation last year, according to new federal data released this morning. In fact, more than 60 percent of the electric generating capacity installed in the U.S. in 2018 was fueled by clean, domestic natural gas. Specifically, facilities like Tenaska’s Westmoreland Generating […]
Radio Recap: Natural Gas a “Winner for the Region”
February 8, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Natural gas is driving manufacturing job growth, consumer savings, and clean air progress, all “winners for the region,” MSC’s Dave Spigelmyer said during radio interviews across the Commonwealth this week. Here’s a few key highlights from radio row: On a Generational Manufacturing Opportunity “We’ve got a petrochemical facility being built in the west that […]
Report: Marcellus, Utica Shale Plays Drive Domestic Natural Gas Production Growth
January 24, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Domestic natural gas production and use – especially in power generation and manufacturing – will expand significantly over the next three decades, the federal Energy Information Administration reported today. The agency projects in its 2019 Annual Energy Outlook that natural gas will experience the largest production increase of all fossil fuels, with the Marcellus and […]
Pa. Produced Energy Drives High-Tech Manufacturing Job Growth
January 15, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Energy development is giving rise to Pennsylvania’s next manufacturing chapter, fueling a wave of high-tech jobs and economic growth in communities across the Commonwealth. As the nation’s second largest natural gas producing state, Pennsylvania manufacturers can leverage low-cost, abundant natural gas feedstocks into a competitive advantage. In Beaver County, for example, along the banks of […]
2019 Outlook: Steady Energy Growth to Drive Pa. Economic Expansion, Environmental Progress
January 3, 2019 | Filed Under: Blog
Pennsylvania is blessed with an enormous energy advantage that gives our region the ability to compete and win economically, grow good-paying local jobs and improve our environment, MSC’s Dave Spigelmyer said during a series of year-end press interviews. “We’ve gone from a period of cautious optimism to now living an energy renaissance,” Spigelmyer told the […]
Pa. Energy Producers Hold ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ Outlook
August 21, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
With rig counts steadily rising, key infrastructure projects coming online, and production increasing, Pennsylvania’s energy producers have a cautiously optimistic outlook, MSC president David Spigelmyer told reporters recently. During a swing through local papers across the north central and eastern parts of the state, Spigelmyer provided a state of the industry update for the second-half […]
Training Programs Prepare Pennsylvanians for High-Demand Energy Careers
July 23, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
New workforce training programs have launched throughout the region to meet growing local demand for skilled workers across the energy supply chain. In Armstrong and Greene Counties, for example, free month-long training courses focused on pipeline construction and maintenance begin in August. These programs, as the Observer-Reporter reports, are hosted through a partnership with the […]
Acting EPA Administrator Visits Western Pa., Credits Shale Industry’s “Innovation”
July 18, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Commonsense policies and smart regulations that encourage natural gas development will help ensure further environmental and public health improvement, acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler discussed during a visit to Washington County this week. Just a week after assuming his new position, acting administrator Wheeler met with MSC member Range Resources and sat down with the […]
Natural Gas Drives Pa. Manufacturing Resurgence
July 12, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Western Pennsylvania manufacturing is on the comeback thanks, in large part, to the region’s abundance of natural gas. From the Shell ethane cracker facility under construction in Beaver County to the growth of Lawrence County’s steel industry and a resurgent plastics industry in Erie County, affordable, abundant natural gas is driving the region’s manufacturing comeback. […]
Pa. Natural Gas Impact Fee Generates $209M+, Proceeds Benefit All Counties
June 22, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Communities across Pennsylvania will receive more than $209 million in new impact fee revenue, Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) announced yesterday. Since 2012 the impact fee – Pennsylvania’s drilling tax – has generated nearly $1.5 billion for communities in all 67 counties. This natural gas impact fee is working as designed, generating hundreds of millions […]
Gov. Wolf’s Energy Tax Hike to Harm Pa. Jobs, Consumers
May 2, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Governor Wolf threw his support behind an energy tax increase this week, marking the fourth year in a row the governor put forth a plan that harms Pennsylvania families, small businesses, and consumers. Just like previous proposals, this latest tax increase is a step backward and will make Pennsylvania less competitive for job-creating investment. Natural […]
On Earth Day, 5 Reasons to Thank Natural Gas
April 20, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Earth Day provides an important opportunity to celebrate the meaningful environmental progress that our nation and the Commonwealth continue to make thanks to natural gas. Local production of abundant, clean-burning natural gas means we don’t have to choose between environmental progress and economic growth. We can and do have both – and Pennsylvanians are realizing […]
Five Fast Facts on Misguided Court Ruling
April 19, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
A recent Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling upends more than a century of settled property law and injects uncertainty to safe, responsible oil and gas development, the Marcellus Shale Coalition and Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry said in court filings this week. The court’s recent decision involving the “rule of capture” departs from past precedent […]
On Clean, Job-Creating Natural Gas, Gov. Wolf Says One Thing, Does Another
April 18, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Governor Wolf’s rhetoric doesn’t match his policies when it comes to clean, job-creating natural gas. On one hand, Gov. Wolf talks about supporting further development of abundant, low-cost natural gas as key to consumer savings, environmental progress and manufacturing growth. Yet, his policies tell a different story, as higher taxes, unnecessary regulations, and outright bans […]
Allegheny Co. Executive: Fracking “Saved the Airport”
April 10, 2018 | Filed Under: Blog
Natural gas development enabled Pittsburgh International Airport to expand flights and plan a $1.1 billion renovation, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a Pittsburgh Democrat, said during a recent interview with the Pittsburgh Business Times. In 2013, the airport authority partnered with Consol Energy – now CNX Resources – to develop natural gas under the airport’s […]
