From Crain’s New York Business 

The Cuomo administration’s “blockade” on new natural-gas pipelines could drive up energy costs for New Yorkers and actually increase the state’s greenhouse-gas emission, a report from the Manhattan Institute argues. 

The free-market think tank points to three separate large natural-gas pipelines that have been blocked by state environmental regulators. Most recently, the state Department of Environmental Conservation denied a water quality certificate needed for the Williams Transco pipeline, which would carry natural gas under New York Bay to National Grid’s service area in Long Island and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. 

“While these restrictions are claimed to be necessary to protect the environment from harm, they will likely result in increased use of heating fuel oil, which means increased air pollution and carbon-dioxide emissions,” author Robert Bryce argues in the report. “New York and [New England] already have some of the highest residential gas and electricity rates in the country, and these rates will only rise as a result of the blockade.” 

Natural gas generates close to half of New York’s electricity, according to the report, and residential gas consumption in the state has risen 20% in the past decade. That dependence could deepen as the two nuclear reactors at Indian Point, which generate about a quarter of the city’s electricity, shut down in 2020 and 2021, the report argues. 

As proposed gas pipelines were blocked, utilities in both New York and Massachusetts implemented moratoriums on new hook-ups, saying demand would otherwise outpace supply. About 1.1 million residents in the two states can no longer apply for gas connections, according to the report. The largest such moratorium is in Westchester, where Con Edison stopped accepting requests from the majority of its service area in the southern part of the county. 

That number could grow significantly if National Grid follows through on its pledged moratorium if the Williams Transco pipeline remains blocked. The utility—which serves about 1.8 million customers on Long Island and in Queens and Brooklyn—has already stopped processing requests for new gas hookups following permit denials from New York and New Jersey regulators. Williams has reapplied for the water quality permits it needs from both states. 

New York state lawmakers passed legislation last week requiring the state to be powered solely through renewable sources by 2040. Supporters for natural gas have argued the fossil fuel is essential to serve the grid when wind and solar energy are unable to meet demand. Green-energy advocates have pushed back against the idea of natural gas as a bridge until more renewable energy is available, saying new pipelines would commit the state to using natural gas for decades when an urgent response to global warming is needed. 

The Cuomo administration has denied any blanket opposition to new pipelines. Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, responded to the Manhattan Institute report by telling the New York Post, “Protecting New Yorkers and the environment are this administration’s top priorities, which is why decisions on individual projects are made at the agency level by career public servants who conduct a rigorous review of the facts and science.” 

The state’s most recent pipeline rejection included guidance that the applicant could follow to succeed upon reapplying. 

Several years ago the Cuomo administration announced New York would not allow hydrofracking, a controversial process used to extract natural gas from otherwise unreachable deposits. The pipelines proposed for New York would carry fracked gas from other states, including neighboring Pennsylvania. 

 


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