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Old 10-14-2012, 06:02 AM
 
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With vast reserves of the most valuable 'wet" natural gas, and the most valuable coal reserves in Appalachia, northern West Virginia is poised for major econimic growth in the energy sector in the coming years.

Coal's decline forewarned* - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -
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Old 10-14-2012, 08:16 AM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
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Along those same lines, construction of a 900MW gas-powered power plant has been announced for Lawrence County, PA, not far from the tip of the Northern Panhandle.

The only discouraging aspect of this is that while it will create an estimated 500 jobs during the 3-4 year construction phase, once in operation (2016-17) it will have only 25 permanent jobs.
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Old 10-14-2012, 11:19 AM
 
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Would be nice if the state now finally started to develop the North instead of brining all the money south, since the energy is occurring in the north along with the vast majority of population and economic growth.

I doubt it. They will probably steal as much as they can to delay the inevitable death of the south.
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Old 10-14-2012, 12:06 PM
 
Location: Boilermaker Territory
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What happens if the price of natural gas collapses due to increase production leading to an oversupply? Not a good idea to put all the eggs in one basket, just like coal. Coal is on the decline for numerous reasons, but the fracking issues remain. Ohio is now leading all states in the transport of fracking waste through its borders.
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Old 10-14-2012, 01:02 PM
 
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Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
What happens if the price of natural gas collapses due to increase production leading to an oversupply? Not a good idea to put all the eggs in one basket, just like coal. Coal is on the decline for numerous reasons, but the fracking issues remain. Ohio is now leading all states in the transport of fracking waste through its borders.
The north was leading WV in economic and population growth before natural gas. It just quickened the rise of Morgantown as the first city.
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Old 10-14-2012, 02:35 PM
 
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Originally Posted by cry_havoc View Post
The north was leading WV in economic and population growth before natural gas. It just quickened the rise of Morgantown as the first city.
This is true, and, at least in the Mon region, the economy is much more diversified than in the NP, which is basically replacing the steel industry with natural gas. The added benefit of the NP gas is that it is wet, meaning it has a lot of ethane and propane along with the methane (the main component of NG used for energy), and when fractionated, the heavier hydrocarbons (ethane, propane, butane) can be sent to chemical plants for processing, thus reinvigorating another industry.

I think, unlike the southern coal counties, the NP counties learned their lesson when steel collapsed, and that they will be more likely to invest in other developments using the increased revenues from natural gas. Mon County is well-off no matter what, thanks to WVU, and we're about to see the development of a new business park off I-79 similar to the ones in Bridgeport and the Southpointe complex outside of Pittsburgh.
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Old 10-14-2012, 03:16 PM
 
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Originally Posted by elewis7 View Post
This is true, and, at least in the Mon region, the economy is much more diversified than in the NP, which is basically replacing the steel industry with natural gas. The added benefit of the NP gas is that it is wet, meaning it has a lot of ethane and propane along with the methane (the main component of NG used for energy), and when fractionated, the heavier hydrocarbons (ethane, propane, butane) can be sent to chemical plants for processing, thus reinvigorating another industry.

I think, unlike the southern coal counties, the NP counties learned their lesson when steel collapsed, and that they will be more likely to invest in other developments using the increased revenues from natural gas. Mon County is well-off no matter what, thanks to WVU, and we're about to see the development of a new business park off I-79 similar to the ones in Bridgeport and the Southpointe complex outside of Pittsburgh.
The problem is Charleston doesn't want NCWV to develope. They want to let a few energy companies steal everything and give nothing back, like what they did with southern WV.
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Old 10-14-2012, 08:59 PM
 
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I just spent the last week+ driving around in Texas. There is an incredible amount of energy money here. I think the difference is their politicos made certain their local communities and state government got their share of the energy revenue while ours get bought off cheaply for campaign contributions and so forth, thus most of the money leaves the state. Highways are absolutely amazing in Texas, for example and there are tons of prosperous cities here. We need to stop electing the good old boy politicos to office.
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Old 10-14-2012, 09:11 PM
 
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Originally Posted by CTMountaineer View Post
I just spent the last week+ driving around in Texas. There is an incredible amount of energy money here. I think the difference is their politicos made certain their local communities and state government got their share of the energy revenue while ours get bought off cheaply for campaign contributions and so forth, thus most of the money leaves the state. Highways are absolutely amazing in Texas, for example and there are tons of prosperous cities here. We need to stop electing the good old boy politicos to office.
When the capital was in Wheeling corruption was not such a big issue, but when the capital moved south the state was doomed. Morgantown is leading a recovery, but the politicos are working against it to preserve their own power and privilege.

Texas does have great interstates, feeder roads everywhere.
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Old 10-15-2012, 11:15 AM
 
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No political corruption in Wheeling? Just because they don't have coal (and dead voters voting) doesn't mean they don't have corruption, especially people with ties to the legacy families in the area (or so I've been told). But, yeah, it can't be as bad as the South, that's for sure.

Going back to the original article, it is clear that due to the short-sightedness of most of the local governments in the coalfields, they won't be able to diversify their economies fast enough to soften the coming blow at the end of the decade. Morgantown will continue its torrid pace of growth with the increased focus on research and technology as well as the booming healthcare industry. As road projects continue in the EP, the Washington sprawl will continue to flood into those counties. And as natural gas secondary industries (see: fractionators, crackers, other chemical plants) expand, coupled with local universities and community colleges increasing their natural gas trade education, more WV workers will be skilled enough to work in state, providing for permanent jobs and residents in the NP down to Parkersburg. Heck, even Huntington and Charleston are stabilizing their populations and are primed for growth.

The southern counties? The population decline we witnessed in the last decade will be even worse this current decade. The urban areas in the state and northern/eastern counties will grow, probably more than they have the last 10 years, while the coalfields will lose more and more people. The balance of power in Charleston has already shifted a good bit, and it will only continue to in the future. The days of the state government and economy being hamstrung by the coal industry are numbered, and it's about time.


Note - this isn't an attack on all things coal. It provides cheap (albeit dirty) electricity, good-paying jobs (albeit dangerous), and is still the backbone of our economy. We can't simply quit coal cold turkey, nor should we ever quit coal totally - that is, unless renewables reach coal electricity prices. This is all about diversification of the economy, not replacing one industry with another.
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