Ben Hunkler

ADVISORY September 9th, 2026 Ohio Power Siting Board Denies Company Request to Block Expert Testimony Describing Potential Impacts of 800MW Gas Plant PowerConneX Sought to Secure Approval with Limited Information   ASHVILLE, Oh. — Developer PowerConneX asked the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) to block scheduled testimony from an Ohio River Valley Institute researcher, an […]

This year, ORVI and our partners have worked to adapt and respond to an increasingly chaotic, uncertain environment. We’ve quantified stemmed funding flows for federal projects like old oil and gas well decommissioning, traced critical junctures in the storied history—and possibility—of Mon Valley steelmaking, and tracked the surge of new fossil fuel industry offshoots: gas-fired […]

A landmark three-county solar array is coming to Southeast Kentucky’s coalfields, promising to be one of the nation’s largest renewables projects developed on former mine lands. But as developers prepare to break ground, questions remain around the project’s economic and community impacts. This month, the Kentucky Siting Board approved a 210-MW solar array, planned to […]

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —— The race to expand Appalachian natural gas production in anticipation of new power demand for AI data centers and increased export capacity of liquified natural gas (LNG) is unlikely to generate long-term job growth or local prosperity, according to a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute. “For over a decade, […]

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 […]

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —— Policy and regulatory failures have allowed Pennsylvania oil and gas well owners to delay and avoid plugging responsibilities as the number of leaky, aging wells at risk of abandonment continues to grow. That’s according to testimony to be delivered today before the Pennsylvania House Environment and Natural Resource Protection Committee. Faulty well […]

Let’s talk about coal. Yes—coal, the black rock that powered much of America’s past. Lately, some leaders have been trying to bring it back in a big way. But here’s the truth: no matter what policies are put in place, the coal industry is on its way out—and trying to prop it up is only […]

Joanne Kilgour: Today’s discussion comes on the heels of an executive order signed by President Trump reversing the Biden administration’s pause on pending and future applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects. We’ve gathered a panel of experts today to help us unpack what this new political landscape might mean for consumers and local […]