Chapter 771: The Fear of Awakening the Giant Beast

Houston. The top-floor conference room of EQT Corporation’s headquarters.

Representatives from several of the largest natural gas drillers and traditional energy giants in all of America gathered together. A massive electronic screen displayed a draft executive order leaked from within the Government of Pennsylvania: an approval for the establishment of the Pennsylvania Energy Administration.

The CEO of EQT sat at the head of the table, tapping his fingers against the surface.

“Gentlemen, we have a problem,” he said, pointing at the words *Pennsylvania Energy Administration* on the screen. “The structural design of this agency completely deviates from the conventional model of state-level environmental or energy regulatory departments.

“It possesses independent personnel and financial authority. Worst of all, this draft grants it an exceptionally high administrative ranking and the power to allocate resources.

“This reminds me of a highly unpleasant historical term.” He looked around the room and uttered the name. “The Tennessee Valley Authority.”

A collective gasp echoed through the conference room.

To the energy oligarchs seated there, the Tennessee Valley Authority was an absolute nightmare etched into their very capitalist DNA. It was a monstrosity created by Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s—a super state-owned enterprise directly funded, directly managed, and directly controlled by the Federal Government, dominating all water and power resources across an entire river basin.

The emergence of the Tennessee Valley Authority had completely shattered the monopoly held by private power companies over the energy market in the Southern States at the time. Using rock-bottom state pricing, it sold electricity to farmers and factories, rendering private capital utterly defenseless.

In the eyes of capitalists, this was naked market destruction, a trampling of private property rights, and state capitalism cloaked in the guise of democracy.

“Leo Wallace wants to replicate the Tennessee Valley Authority model in Pennsylvania,” the CEO of EQT made his assessment, his expression turning grim. “He wants to build his own energy empire, an independent system completely controlled by the government and free from the constraints of private capital like us.

“Once this Energy Administration Bureau gains a foothold, it will use government credit and administrative privileges to gradually chip away at our pricing power and market share in Pennsylvania, just like the Tennessee Valley Authority did back then.”

A representative for a natural gas driller sitting on the left slammed his hand on the table in frustration.

“That bastard is already making us miserable!” he complained. “Over the past few weeks, our development costs in Pennsylvania have skyrocketed.

“Those damn environmental assessments and road transport permits are being deliberately delayed. The Union is even rejecting our recruitment efforts, forcing us to nearly double the hourly wage before anyone agrees to work. This is extortion!”

“Why don’t we fight back?” another representative asked. “We could cut off gas supplies to some peripheral areas, or band together and sue him in Federal Court for abuse of power.”

“That won’t work.” Sterling, who had been invited to attend the meeting, shook his head. “We just signed hundreds of billions in long-term supply contracts with Europe and Asia. The prerequisite for these contracts is that the Marcellus Shale gas field in Pennsylvania can operate at full capacity.

“We are currently racing against time.

“If we completely sever ties with Leo Wallace right now, he has countless legal administrative methods in Pennsylvania to paralyze our drilling and transportation.

“Even just a one-month shutdown would result in liquidated damages substantial enough to wipe out all the profits we make in Europe.”

Sterling looked around at the crowd and continued, “I know you’re all furious. You feel that Leo is using the Union to extort us.

“But look at it from another angle—why hasn’t he completely shut us down? Why does he still allow those workers to enter our sites after the wage hike?

“Because he doesn’t want to make things too ugly either.”

Sterling traced a finger across the tabletop. “Leo needs employment rates. The restart of his Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant is still going through the regulatory process, so there aren’t enough substantial projects for those workers to take on right now.

“If he ruins our projects, the unemployed workers will become his problem.

“This is our tacit understanding.”

Sterling’s voice lowered. “He tacitly allows these people to work here and earn our money, but at the same time, he will constantly cause trouble for us. This is a mutual struggle based on political understanding.

“If we lose the ensuing game, he will finalize all the procedures for the nuclear power plant restart, secure the funding, and get the approvals passed.

“Then, he won’t hesitate to pull all these workers back to restart his plant.

“Until then, everyone takes a step back and maintains a superficial peace.”

Sterling met the eyes of the energy tycoons. “Until our export pipelines are built and our funds are recovered, we must endure.”

“But that doesn’t mean we just sit around waiting to die,” the CEO of EQT chimed in. “We need to cause some trouble for him and disrupt his rhythm.”

He turned to look at a man sitting at the far end of the table. It was the representative of Constellation Energy.

As the largest nuclear power operator in all of America, they held significant assets at Three Mile Island. Faced with the natural gas cartel’s earlier decision to forcibly delay the nuclear plant’s restart for the sake of overseas interests, there was actually a great deal of internal dissatisfaction at Constellation Energy. However, the natural gas syndicate had placated them with massive internal financial compensations and priority rights on future projects.

“Richard,” the CEO of EQT said, looking at the Constellation Energy representative. “Leo’s goal in establishing the Pennsylvania Energy Administration is clear: he wants to provide baseline power for that Computing Power Special Zone within two years.

“He can’t possibly build a new nuclear power plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval process takes at least five years.

“Therefore, his only option is Three Mile Island.

“He’s targeting you.”

Richard sneered. “The property rights to Three Mile Island are in our hands. Even with the Pennsylvania Energy Administration established, if he wants to take over that pile of equipment, he still needs our signatures.

“If we refuse to sell, what can he do?”

“Don’t underestimate his madness,” Sterling warned. “Our insider at City Hall sent word back: Leo’s first move is to clear the 500-acre buffer zone around Three Mile Island.

“Once he physically completes the encirclement of the nuclear power plant, his next step will be putting your property rights on the chopping block.”

Sterling took out a few documents and distributed them to the crowd. “We can’t let him complete the clearing operation so easily.

“Within that 500-acre range, we still have some leverage we can utilize.”

Sterling pointed to the names on the documents. “There are still two hundred households living within this 500-acre area. I will have our legal team communicate with them.

“We’ll provide them with subsidies. There is only one condition: defend their ground to the bitter end and reject any compensation schemes offered by the Pennsylvania Energy Administration.”

Someone in the conference room raised a question. “What if they get intimidated by Leo Wallace’s high-pressure tactics or bought off by his exorbitant compensation offers and decide to compromise?”

“Most people will compromise. That’s entirely normal.” Sterling paid it no mind. “That’s why I’ve separately planted a few of our own people. They are absolutely reliable hardliners.

“Even if only one household remains, as long as they are still on that land, Leo’s bulldozers won’t be able to drive in.”

Sterling’s eyes turned vicious. “Furthermore, our true goal isn’t to completely prevent the nuclear plant’s restart. That’s unrealistic.

“All we want is to stall.

“As long as we can drag out the clearing operations for six months to a year, wait for our natural gas export terminals to be built, and secure the advance payments from Europe and Asia, our goal will be achieved.

“When that time comes, we could even help him lobby the government and advance the nuclear power restart bill.

“But for now, Pennsylvania’s resources must be devoted to our natural gas projects.”