Update Of Existing And Proposed US LNG Export Terminals -- March 4, 2016; Introduction Of The CAVE Dwellers

EIA map of existing and proposed LNG export terminals in the US at this link. Four LNG export terminals are currently under construction:

• Dominion Energy's Cove Point LNG facility in Cove Point, Maryland, is scheduled to bring one train totaling 0.82 Bcf/d online near the end of 2017.
• Corpus Christi LNG, another Cheniere project, is under construction in Corpus Christi, Texas. The terminal is scheduled to begin service in 2018, with total permitted capacity at 2.14 Bcf/d.
• Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG terminal, located in Hackberry, Louisiana, is under construction and is scheduled to bring three trains online in 2018. A total of 1.7 Bcf/d has been permitted.
• Freeport LNG's terminal planned for Freeport, Texas, has three trains under construction totaling 1.8 Bcf/d. The first two are scheduled to begin service in 2019, and the third in 2020.
• Another terminal, Southern Union's Lake Charles (Louisiana) LNG facility, has been approved by FERC but is not yet under construction. Lake Charles also has an LNG import terminal. Several more LNG export terminals, mostly on the Gulf Coast, have been proposed or have pending applications with FERC.

One can, of course, scratch off the two proposed LNG export terminals in the Pacific Northwest and the one in Maine. All three are located in "no-growth sanctuary regions" of the US where CAVE dwellers now reside. The Citizens Against Virtually Everything have strongholds in several regions across the US, but are probably most prominent in the heartland of America (the Nike swoosh, from Nebraska through Iowa up to Minnesota), the Pacific Northwest, northern California, and the New England states. Wow, I'm starting to feel claustrophobic.

Speaking of which, did you all see that Jerry Brown's "bullet train" has been delayed three years? Yup. Something about finding out that it was going to be more expensive and more difficult than first realized. LOL. For heaven's sake, this is California. I'm not in favor of the bullet train, but I wouldn't stand on tracks to stop it. Que sara, que sara is what I always say when it comes to bullet trains and other flights of whimsy. Or would this be tracks of whimsy?

California will need to double down on support of the bullet train by digging deeper into the state's wallet and accepting a three-year delay in completing the project's initial leg, a new business plan for the 220-mph system shows.

Rail planners have turned their construction plans upside down, attempting to fit the mega-project within the state's limited budget.

The 2016 business plan, released last month, shows that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco rail link has proved to be politically and technically more complicated to build than foreseen in 2008, when voters agreed to help finance the project with a $9-billion bond.

The plan acknowledges the biggest of those problems: The costly and geologically complex crossing of the Southern California mountains cannot be completed by 2022, as the rail authority had long contended.

I was going to say: I believe the state is already setting aside money for this project. It should be quite a slush fund by 2025. But the linked story provided that information deep, deep in the article:

Rail officials say the new plan is a breakthrough that solves many funding problems because the state has amassed enough money to build a $21-billion initial operating segment from San Jose to the Central Valley by 2025. Construction of that segment will help persuade investors to put up money to complete the entire system, the officials say.

Everyone knows this is not going to go 220-mph, except perhaps on a 10-mile exhibition, opening day run, just for the fun of it and to get some great video of the engineers' "OMG" look. I wrote that before I read this, also buried deep in the story:

The 99-page plan and its backup technical documents again raise questions about service and speed. A sample operating schedule does not show any nonstop trains between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The fastest travel time between the cities would be 3 hours and 14 minutes, not the 2 hours and 40 minutes many people expect.

Virgin America currently advertises 1 hour 10 minute from LA to SFO. An hour (max) in the limousine (max) because all the rich people in LA live on the west side near the airport anyway, and one gets 2 hours 20 minutes by air. But you will get a better snack on the Jerry Brown Bullet Train, most likely organic and veggie in nature.

Back to cost: the new plan is projected to cost $21 billion for about 250 miles, San Jose to Bakersfield, or $84 million/mile. To keep this easy, let's say the cost is $25 billion for about 250 miles or $21 billion for 210 miles, and it gets to $100 billion.  

Which brings us to my favorite animal rights activist:

Que Sera, Que Sera, Doris Day