The amount of money that Butler County receives from natural gas drilling has gone down, again.
According to official totals just released by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the county will receive $1.6 million in gas drilling impact fees. That’s down from $1.9 million the year prior.
Each township, borough and municipality receives their own allotment. The only municipality in the county that will see an increase is Clinton Township, by about $800.
The utility commission says the fee revenue is declining because of a persistent slump in natural gas prices and the increasing age of many of the state’s Marcellus Shale wells.
Butler is the seventh highest receiving county in the state this year, according to the PUC.
