The Pennsylvania Senate today voted to approve a bipartisan resolution (S.R. 375) that calls on the United States Congress to support the development of an ethane storage hub in the Appalachian region, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
The resolution was introduced by Republican Sen. Camera Bartolotta of Washington, Greene and Beaver counties. She introduced the resolution to show support for a hub that would enable Pennsylvania and other states to take better advantage of the region’s deposits of natural gas, which is rich in ethane.
Co-sponsors included Democrats and Republicans. The resolutions was adopted, 10-2, with only Sens. Andrew Dinniman and Daylin Leach opposing it. Both southeastern Pennsylvania lawmakers oppose the Mariner East pipelines that have helped to revitalize the neighboring Marcus Hook Industrial Complex and that would be essential to supplying a storage hub.
Beyond Mariner East, which stretches across Pennsylvania, construction of Shell’s new ethane facility in Beaver County is already underway, as are other pipelines. Other projects would benefit as well. According to Bartolotta, developing an ethane storage and distribution hub in the Appalachian region would lead to additional investments that could eventually create as many as 100,000 new direct and indirect jobs and $28 billion in new economic output.
If you are writing about this resolution or these projects, please find a statement from the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance. You can quote me, Kurt Knaus, as PEIA spokesman:
Statement:
“You can’t have an Appalachian gas storage hub without one critical component — the pipeline infrastructure to get it there and then eventually take it to market. Bipartisan efforts to create a storage hub are part of an ongoing regional partnership among states that would ensure huge benefits across Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. It would enable us to harness the full potential of our vast natural resources, develop the infrastructure needed to safely deliver energy to market, and foster economic benefits for residents and communities. PEIA supports this effort and applauds the Pennsylvania legislators who support the continued benefits that these resources could provide the commonwealth”