The Marcellus Shale Coalition is the drilling industry’s top trade group within Pennsylvania.
40 energy companies, including Range Resources, Chesapeake Energy, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Shell Appalachia, are full members of the coalition. More than 100 companies with ancillary ties to the drilling industry are associate members. Companies pay $50,000 for full membership, and $15,000 for associate dues.
According to its website, the MSC “is an organization committed to the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale geological formation and the enhancement of the region’s economy that can be realized by this clean-burning energy source. The members of the coalition work with our partners across the region to address issues with regulators, local, county, state and federal government officials and communities about all aspects of producing clean-burning, job-creating natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.”
For all intents and purposes, the coalition is the primary public face of the natural gas drilling industry. Its staffers work to influence drilling-related legislation, stage conferences and educational events on gas extraction, and represent the industry in the press.
David Spigelmyer currently serves as president and CEO of the coalition.
Spigelmyer is a former vice president of government relations for Chesapeake Energy’s Appalachia Division. He also served as chairman of the MSC’s executive board.
He replaced Kathryn Klaber who had served as the coalition’s President and CEO since it was founded in 2008.
Job growth in 22 counties with high gas production, including eight in Pennsylvania, averaged 1.7 percent over the period, compared with 10 percent nationwide. Three Pa. counties exceeded the statewide average for personal income growth per capita from 2016-18.
By
Jon Hurdle 
More pipelines coming online, coupled with high production, means the industry’s focus is shifting to how it can best use the region’s natural gas.
The gas trade group, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, says it pays for nearly all Pennsylvania’s oil and gas program, but it only accounts for part of the program’s work.
The group says Gov. Tom Wolf promised to help people who say they’ve been harmed by fracking, and hasn’t delivered. A spokesman said Wolf has taken a ‘balanced approach’ to the industry.
