Achieving Significant Local Hire at the Starfire Solar Project
On June 18, Senior Researcher Eric Dixon appeared before the Siting Board of the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) to advocate the condition of the approval of the proposed 210-MW Starfire solar project in Appalachian Kentucky on further action needed to: ensure significant local hiring in the construction of the project, secure community benefits, and […]
New Policy Would Ensure Industry Pays For Well Decommissioning, Not Taxpayers
What is there to be done about the “culture of non-compliance” that has resulted in a potentially $100 billion bill to clean up as many as 1 million oil and gas wells across Appalachia? ORVI’s latest report has the answer. Part 2 of Filling the Hole presents a policy solution that would result in industry-financed […]
Well Decommissioning Presents Huge Job Opportunity For Appalachia
ORVI’s latest report, “Filling the Hole,” laid out a five-part policy to ensure that the oil and gas industry foots the bill for the tens of billions of dollars of decommissioning costs. The policy would create a comprehensive program for well decommissioning funded entirely by the oil and gas industry. Perhaps the most exciting part […]
Data centers are driving pipeline expansions and production growth in Appalachia
Appalachian gas production has been hamstrung by a slowdown in pipeline construction; data center demand could change that. A planned buildout of new, AI-specialized data centers could unlock enough energy demand across the eastern half of the US to drive up Appalachian gas production and spur expansion of the pipelines to transport it. Appalachian gas […]
Delay the Vote, Dismiss the Workers, and Distract the Public: Does BlueOval SK Have an Anti-Union Playbook?
This report was updated on July 31, 2025 with updates about recent decisions made by the National Labor Relations Board and more detail about the unfair labor practice charges filed in this case. Summary A supermajority of workers at an electric vehicle battery plant in Kentucky launched a unionization drive and filed for a […]
Adams Fork Energy: What’s Happening With the World’s Largest Proposed Ammonia Plant
New York-based company TransGas Development Systems, LLC wants to build and operate a fossil fuel-based ammonia facility in Mingo County, WV. If built, the Adams Fork Energy project would be the biggest ammonia plant in the world. The facility would produce ammonia from natural gas — a process that could expose nearby communities to serious […]
Adams Fork Energy’s Blue Ammonia Project, Explained
As discussed in our companion article, New York-based TransGas Development Systems, LLC announced plans in 2023 to build the Adams Fork Energy ammonia project in Mingo County, WV. This project was originally part of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) but its partner CNX later backed out and the project is no longer part […]
Timeline: BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky
This page chronicles main events in the development of the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky, including the unionization effort at the facility. Updates will be added as future events unfold. Last updated August 8, 2025. Timeline May 20, 2021: Ford and South Korean energy company SK Innovation sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) […]
Unfunded Cost To Decommission The More Than 1 Million Wells In Appalachia Reaches Into The Tens Of Billions Of Dollars
The bill for the 150-year legacy of oil drilling in Appalachia is coming due. Yet, drilling still continues, adding to the region’s backlog of unplugged and polluting oil and gas wells. This is a huge problem for the region because unplugged wells have been linked to the contamination of groundwater supplies and soil, they leak […]
Governor Shapiro’s “Lightning Plan”: What HB500 Means for Hydrogen
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposal for a hydrogen tax credit addresses some of the worst aspects of the existing tax credit but the tax credit still rewards polluters and leaves itself vulnerable to changes that could render it moot, unenforceable, or worse. Background Last month, legislation associated with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Lightning Plan […]