Skip to content

Monthly Archives: February 2012

Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) Hosts Local Officials

The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) hosted local officials in Green Tree, Pennsylvania for a tour of Rook Yard.  Participants boarded a locomotive and witnessed firsthand the capacity constraints of train movements within the yard, as a result of increasing car volumes and the location of three new customers.

he Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) hosted local officials in Green Tree, Pennsylvania

Clockwise: Jonathan Chastek, Manager Economic & Industrial Development W≤ Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive; Bill Callison, President W≤ Alec Jarvis, Director of Law and Government Relations W≤ Tracy Wingenroth, ERG Partners, government affairs consultant to W≤ Matt Smith, State Representative; Wayne Fontana, State Senator; Dave Montz, Green Tree Borough Manager.

MORE »

Governor Signs Three Energy Bills. Marcellus Shale Fees and Regs a Reality

Gov. Tom Corbett this week signed three energy-related bills, including the long awaited natural gas impact fee bill which establishes new regulations for the expanding industry.

MORE »

Senate Committee Oks Bills Dealing with Potential Gasoline Shortage in Western PA

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee unanimously reported out legislation designed to help alleviate a potential gasoline shortage in Western PA.

MORE »

House Finance Committee Oks RACP Bill

The House Finance Committee this week reported out a bill that would lower the debt ceiling of the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project (RACP), which provides state matching funds for economic development and infrastructure projects. Sponsored by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (Allegheny), House Bill 2175 reduces the state’s borrowing power for capital projects by roughly $3 billion.

MORE »

Energy Programs Defended at Farm Bill Hearing

The Senate Committee on Agriculture held its first Farm Bill hearing of 2012, which focused on the benefits of energy programs in rural America, as well as strategies to addressing economic development programs for the next Farm Bill.

MORE »

PUC Discusses Logistics of Shale Impact Fee Collection, Distribution

Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee, the state Public Utility Commission, noted the changes it will be experiencing due to the new Marcellus Shale law.

MORE »

Governor Proposes 2012-2013 Budget Next Week; No Deal Announced Yet on Marcellus

The state legislature’s “Budget season” officially starts with the Governor’s budget address on February 7. The state still faces difficult financial times, with no easy answers in sight.

MORE »

President Obama’s State of the Union Address Touts Clean Energy

President Obama called for clean energy tax credits and a clean energy standard in his annual State of the Union address on January 24. Saying, “I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy,” the president framed the issue in terms of international competition, pledging not to “cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.” He also announced two initiatives to advance the deployment of clean energy technologies.

MORE »

USDA Accepting REAP Applications, Launches New Energy Website

The USDA is accepting applications for its Rural Energy for America Program. The program is designed to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses reduce energy consumption and costs. While it is not specifically designed to benefit biorefining operations, biodiesel plants and other biorefinery operations that fit the definition of a rural small business under […]

MORE »

2011 Marks 1 Billion Gallons Plus for US Biodiesel Production

The U.S. biodiesel industry reached a key milestone by producing more than 1 billion gallons of fuel in 2011, according to year-end numbers released by the EPA on Friday.

MORE »