Energy News for week ending May 31, 2019

End of an Era | Upended | Freedom Gas

Happy Friday afternoon.

Well, we all knew it was coming. Today is the day that the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth shuts down for good. I’m a bit biased since I worked closely with Pilgrim employees and Entergy over the past 10+ years, but I think it’s safe to say that while the divide about Pilgrim and nuclear power in general remains, we can probably all agree that it must be a tough day for the folks who work at the plant. The crew of nearly 600 employees worked tirelessly the past few years to bring the plant’s NRC safety rating back to green or “normal oversight” and they did it because they have pride in their work and value the benefits that Pilgrim’s near carbon-free power brought to the grid and the environment. So, we offer our thanks to the men and women who worked there over the past 46+ years for keeping us safe and providing us with an abundance of clean power and wish them well on what life’s adventure brings them next. Here’s a story from the Cape Cod Times on Pilgrim’s shutdown.

We move to another controversial subject in Massachusetts which is that of the proposed Weymouth Compressor Station. From the Patriot Ledger, “The Department of Environmental Protection’s three-day delay in notifying parties of new data relevant to an air quality permit appeal case “upended the proceedings” and, as a result, the hearing will be extended to allow full consideration of the latest information, the adjudicator overseeing the case ruled Thursday. After receiving arguments from all parties on whether the latest batch of data concerning a proposed natural gas compressor station in Weymouth warrants continuation of the appeal, hearing officer Jane Rothchild ruled that, by waiting to release the data until the hearing was nearly complete, the DEP “prevented (petitioners) from having a fair and complete opportunity” to cross-examine witnesses. In another article from the same outlet, they quoted Attorney General Maura Healey with saying that, “State environmental regulators ‘really bungled’ air-quality testing in connection with the review of a proposed natural gas compressor station in Weymouth.’

Last story for this week comes from the, “What were they thinking?” bin and was analyzed by Axios, “Energy Department faces blowback for calling LNG exports ‘freedom gas.’ The Department of Energy uncorked a memorable phrase yesterday when it approved expanded shipments from the Freeport LNG site in Texas. Here’s Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes yesterday in DOE’s greatest press release ever: ‘Increasing export capacity from the Freeport LNG project is critical to spreading freedom gas throughout the world by giving America’s allies a diverse and affordable source of clean energy.’ Another DOE official touted ‘molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world.’ The fallout: The phrasing got a ton of coverage and produced some fun writing, like this from Slate’s Jordan Weissmann: ‘As one of my colleagues put it, spreading freedom gas sounds like what happens when you’re newly single and suddenly have the apartment to yourself.’” Be sure to check out the article for why the statement matters.

That’s the recap for this week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Natural Gas/Oil/Pipeline/Drilling

Charlton residents voice concern over proposed liquid natural gas plant on Route 169, Worcester Telegram

Fire chief discusses gas leaks on ‘Wayland Weekly Buzz’, Wicked Local Wayland

‘Freedom Gas,’ the Next American Export, New York Times

Energy Department faces blowback for calling LNG exports “freedom gas,” Axios

Leaks Threaten Safety – and Success – of America’s Top Natural Gas Exporter, Center for Public Integrity

Weymouth

2 more days of hearings scheduled in compressor case, Patriot Ledger

Proposed gas compressor station in Massachusetts poses air pollution risks, Harvard Medical School

Energy Company Behind Weymouth Compressor Says New Air Quality Data Shouldn’t Affect Permits, WBUR

Healey says DEP ‘really bungled’ compressor data, Patriot Ledger