The New Power Brokers

West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry

Coal, long West Virginia’s most dominant industry, is ailing. Natural gas is taking over, as a powerful economic and political force. Is the state making the same mistakes again with a different fossil fuel?

24 stories published since 2018

Joe Manchin’s Price for Supporting the Climate Change Bill: A Natural Gas Pipeline in His Home State

by Ken Ward Jr. and Alexa Beyer, Mountain State Spotlight

August 5, 2022, 5:00 am EDT
Federal Regulators Are Rewriting Environmental Rules So a Massive Pipeline Can Be Built

by Ken Ward Jr.

December 8, 2020, 5:00 am EST
When Fracking Companies Own the Gas Beneath Your Land

by Mayeta Clark

July 11, 2019, 8:00 am EDT
A Resolution Condemning Pipeline Challengers Passed Easily. A Pipeline Lobbyist Wrote It.

by Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail

July 11, 2019, 7:59 am EDT
Fracking Companies Lost on Trespassing, but a Court Just Gave Them a Different Win

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

June 12, 2019, 5:00 am EDT
Court to Big Fracking Company: Trespassing Still Exists — Even For You

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

June 6, 2019, 12:22 pm EDT
Residents Say Natural Gas Production Is Marring West Virginia. And the Legislature Isn’t Doing Anything About It.

by Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail

March 6, 2019, 11:00 am EST
A Guide to Every Permitted Natural Gas Well in West Virginia

by Al Shaw, ProPublica, and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail

March 6, 2019, 11:00 am EST
Large Natural Gas Producer to Pay West Virginia Plaintiffs $53.5 Million to Settle Royalty Dispute

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

February 13, 2019, 9:00 pm EST
Powerless: What It Looks and Sounds Like When a Gas Driller Overruns Your Land

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Al Shaw and Mayeta Clark, ProPublica

December 20, 2018, 5:00 am EST
He is West Virginia’s Speaker of the House — and a Lawyer for Natural Gas Companies

by Ken Ward Jr. and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail

December 5, 2018, 5:00 am EST
Century-Old West Virginia Leases Yield Paltry Gas Royalties. A Suit Could Cut Others’ Payouts to a Trickle, Too.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

November 14, 2018, 5:00 am EST
West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry Keeps Pushing to Whittle Away Payments to Residents

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

November 13, 2018, 5:00 am EST
“Jobs Alliance” Backed by Coal Giant Loses Bid To Stop West Virginia Natural Gas Plant

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

November 2, 2018, 3:00 pm EDT
Another West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Declines to Step Aside in Another Natural Gas Case

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

October 10, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
Another Court Ruling Against a West Virginia Pipeline, Then Another Effort to Change the Rules

by Ken Ward Jr. and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail

October 4, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
“Jobs Alliance,” Funded by Trump Backer, Tries to Block Gas Plants That Would Bring Jobs to West Virginia

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

September 28, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
Natural Gas Industry Again Beats a Tiny West Virginia County That Wanted to Control Its Destiny

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

August 30, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
How One West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Gave Natural Gas a Big Victory and Shortchanged Residents

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

August 20, 2018, 2:00 pm EDT
What Happens When a Pipeline Runs Afoul of Government Rules? Authorities Change the Rules.

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Beena Raghavendran, ProPublica

August 10, 2018, 3:15 pm EDT
West Virginia Paid for a CEO to Go on a Trade Delegation to China. Turns Out, He Was Promoting His Company’s Interests, Too.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

June 15, 2018, 6:30 pm EDT
One West Virginia County Tried to Break Its Dependence on the Energy Industry. It Was Overruled.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

May 4, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
The Coal Industry Extracted a Steep Price From West Virginia. Now Natural Gas Is Leading the State Down the Same Path.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

April 27, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
Covering West Virginia’s Long History of Broken Promises

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail

April 27, 2018, 4:59 am EDT