Updating a previous story ..

on the potential for a new coal-fired power plant in Garrett County. Today's edition of the Republican Newspaper reports that state officials are evaluating a plan that would permit a coal company to tunnel under the Casselman River. A plan for the Casselman Mine can be found online at the site of Maryland Energy Resouces, LLC. According to the Republican, part of the eventual plan could also include natural gas extraction and coal to liquid technology development in Garrett County.

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Boone Pickens on CNN talks about alternative energy solutions including natural gas ..

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AP video from PA farm country on potential natural gas windfall in the Marcellus Shale ..

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"Panel debates wind power" ..

Mike Sawyers of the Cumberland Times-News reports on a recent panel discussion on the merits and drawbacks of wind power. Some familiar names were part of the panel discussion including David Friend of US Wind Power and Jon Boone of Garrett County. Eric Moore, a physics instructor at FSU and a PhD graduate from UMBC, also gave the objective view from the university's perspective. Dr. Moore's contention is that all options should be considered and the residents of western Maryland should think about local electricity generation and as well as sustainable living. I applaud Dr. Moore and the renewable energy team at FSU for their efforts.

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Even more on natural gas which is apparently plentiful in Garrett County ..

Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy Corporation is joining with the PickensPlan to promote natural gas as a transportation fuel and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Learn more at cngNow.com. I think you have to admit that their message, i.e. keeping dollars here by using our own resources instead of relying on others, makes a lot of sense even if you don't completely agree with the entirety of the plan.

Full disclosure: given all that I am reading and that natural gas is a North American resource that can help supply us with the energy we need I plan to purchase a small stake in this business. Some people would call that practicing what you preach, but I see it as something that can improve our future and I can buy a piece of right now. The risk of course is what happens to natural gas prices (and their profits) when all these new sources of supply are opened up and it is not widely adopted as a transport fuel? That's why I'll buy a small stake now (at nearly 50% less than it was selling for earlier this year) and add to if the opportunity presents itself later. To borrow a line from real estate agents though - they're not making anymore natural gas - at least not on the human time scale.

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Since this natural gas story is not being told by the local media ..

I've been trying to look around and see what else I could find on the subject and attempt to come up with a better idea of what this all means. In my searches I found this piece on the Marcellus Shale from Seeking Alpha which I have previously alluded to as a great source of information for the individual investor. The author notes a number of big and small players in the natural gas sector, but there is no mention of or reference to "Lodge Energy" which was mentioned in the piece from the Baltimore Sun. Maybe they are a division of one of the larger players or simply a smaller, under-the-radar firm. Either way I would like to know their story, so I will continue to look for more answers.

Much like the price of a barrel of oil, the well head price for natural gas tends to fluctuate quite a bit based on a number of different factors. Recently, these natural gas prices have generally ranged from about $5 to $10 per 1000 cubic feet. According to the Seeking Alpha article it may be possible that each vertical well spaced on 40 acres in the Marcellus shale contains 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and each horizontal well spaced on 80 acres contains 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Do the math on the more conservative reserves number (even though as I understand it horizontal drilling is the preferred technology) and that is 1 million times roughly $10 which times 15% is $1.5 million over time on top of the initial land lease payment. Even at $5 per cubic foot that is another potential $750,000 per 40 acres. Needless to say these numbers could really start to add up IF there is as much natural gas under Garrett County as some believe and IF I am understanding what the Baltimore Sun is reporting.

As I learn more I will be sure to share it here on the blog so stay tuned. Eventually you might even see something about this in the Cumberland Times-News or the Republican. From what I am hearing secondhand from some land owners involved in the consortium it's a done deal and lease agreements are in fact in place.

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Tentative deal reached on natural gas leases in Garrett County ..

As first reported by the Baltimore Sun's Jay Hancock and according to Garrett County's own Delmer Yoder a tentative deal has been reached that would pay a consortium of Garrett County land owners $1,150 per acre to lease 31,000 acres of land for energy exploration and development in the Marcellus Shale. Additional revenue sharing and royalties appear to be included in the deal that could make some farmers into Garrett County's newest millionaires. The leasing rights alone could bring over $35million in income back to Garrett County.

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USA Solar Store coming to DCL ..

The Deep Creek Blog is reporting on a ribbon cutting and grand opening scheduled for this Saturday August 23rd. This store is much needed addition to the area in my opinion. Check out the link for more details about the store and the planned festivities. I hope many people make it out to the grand opening and this business becomes a great success story.

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"Mayor Bloomberg proposes putting windmills on bridges and rooftops to help power NYC" ..

Read the full AP story here or see a few higlighted quotes below. It sounds as if Mr. Bloomberg is the think globally act locally type as opposed to many in Garrett/Allegany County who would prefer to think locally and act globally (i.e. push your problem off on someone else as the folks in today's Cumberland Times-News article would suggest).

"In New York, we don't think of alternative power as something that we just import from other parts of the nation," he said.

Smaller eggbeater-like models could be used on rooftops. "You can make them so small that people think they are part of the design," Rohit Aggarwala, director of the city's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, told The New York Times.

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Google invests nearly $11 million in geothermal energy ..

Watch the video below and read more at Google.org.

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Southern California Edison announces a 20-year contract to buy 909 megawatts of wind power from Oregon ..

Read more on the environment and technology blog at Fortune .

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"O'Malley says government will work to avert electricity crunch" ..

The Baltimore Sun reports on Governor O'Malley's plan to bring more energy to Maryland before rolling blackouts become necessary. And as expected renewable energy is part of his plan.

The governor drew applause when he said he would seek to make Maryland a "national leader" in renewable energy. The idea would be to enter into long-term contracts with renewable energy providers, helping them to draw private investors and the necessary capital to build the projects.

State officials said the contracts could accelerate Delaware's plan to develop an offshore wind farm and bolster proposals for a power plant fueled by poultry litter on the Eastern Shore. The state, Baltimore City, Montgomery County and the University of Maryland have agreed to pool their buying power to attract commercial development of renewable power.

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A new coal-fired power plant and a new lake?

The Cumberland Times-News reports on the ongoing discussions for energy development in the Casselman Basin. It should be interesting to see how this evolves.

From the news feed at the bottom of the page I can see that the story even made CNNMoney.com today.

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I missed this one last week but it seems a new underground coal mine could open in Garrett County as early as next summer ..

WJZ News reports.

This story actually preceded the one I linked to earlier in the day. I guess all the local media outlets missed this one too, but maybe we'll get some comments from the meeting and an ongoing update as to the status of the project as it moves forward. It does seem somewhat odd though that WJZ out of Baltimore is announcing this meeting and reporting on this story while the Times-News and the Republican apparently chose not to cover it.

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A new coal-fired power plant in Garrett County?

According to WJZ News a meeting to discuss the prospects for a new coal-fired power plant in Garrett County's Casselman Basin will be held this evening in Frostburg. It should be interesting to see if this proposal draws any of the same criticisms as the previously proposed wind projects.

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Now that GM finally recognizes that oil and other fossil fuels have a finite supply ..

maybe the last hold-outs in Garrett County will also accept this and change their behavior.

See yesterday's news story on GM's SUV and truck plant closings here.

It also seems as if the news that Americans are finally moving away from gas guzzlers to smaller more efficient cars is having a dramatic effect on the price of oil (down 10% from its recent high). Imagine that, we indicate we are going to take steps to strengthen the dollar and consumers shift purchasing behavior and oil prices drop. A novel concept.

In the wake of yesterday's news from GM a number of national columnists have penned their own views on related topics. In today's New York Times, David Leonhardt discusses the lifetime cost of ownership of various vehicles and in today's Wall Street Journal, Joseph White, makes an interesting comparison of the relative fates of the markets for over-sized SUVs and houses.

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A government website for anyone interested in saving energy and money ..

With ever escalating energy costs there are many things individuals and businesses can do to reduce energy use and thus save money. This website is fairly comprehensive and has resources for everyone (and who doesn't want to save a little money these days). According to the Energy Savers website, "many households could save 20-30 percent on their household energy bills by implementing energy efficiency improvements".

Under the "Homeowners" link of the above page there is another link to the IRS website detailing the Tax Credits from the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This act of Congress was intended to "provide tax credits for individuals who make energy efficient home improvements or who purchase hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles," but in the typical fashion of our political leaders you will see that these tax credits for home improvements have essentially expired. All credits from this act had to be claimed for energy saving items "placed in service after Dec. 31, 2005 and before Jan. 1, 2008".

This blogger can't think of a worse time for these tax credits to expire, right when the average person needs them most! I would encourage anyone reading this to write your Congressman and urge him or her to make reinstating these energy saving, home improvement tax credits a priority over steroid investigations, questioning of oil executives, a farm bill filled with wasteful subsidizes for wealthy farmers and even the housing bailout plan to help people stay in houses they couldn't afford in the first place. Why not do something to help the middle class for once? And why not do something to promote common sense and conservation?

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