Despite their reticence
and disdain for fossil fuels, New York and the New England region in general are
dependent on natural gas, especially in cold snaps. 2022’s winter storm Elliott
exemplified that need when the system nearly failed. This issue should have
been addressed previously, but former governor Cuomo was against addressing it
and now current governor Hochul is being told that it is necessary and recently
approved a pipeline expansion to address natural gas capacity for New York
City. According to the Washington Examiner:
“Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) approved the expansion of the
Iroquois natural gas pipeline despite it being "inconsistent" with
the state’s greenhouse gas emission limits.”
“The move came as Con Edison proposed a 13% hike in gas
rates for New York residents as it faces limits on the amount of natural gas it
can pull from the pipeline.”
“The natural gas system could fail under certain
circumstances,” John Howard, a former commissioner of the state Public Service
Commission, told the New York Post. “Safety and reliability can’t be
compromised.”
Perhaps that state is beginning to realize that
transitioning to renewables is not as easy as it imagined. Offshore wind has
faced delays, and financial difficulties, and now faces a “pause” by the Trump
administration. The state and the general region still rely on burning high-emissions fuel oil when pipeline capacity becomes inadequate to deliver enough
natural gas during cold snaps. This triggers air quality alerts.
“As a condition of the permits, Iroquois will invest $5
million in mitigation efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions and make
investments to reduce environmental burdens within disadvantaged communities,
such as a heat pump program and EV charging stations,” the spokesperson told
the outlet. “This investment is in addition to other measures Iroquois will
implement to minimize emissions.”
“A report from the state Public Service Commission found
that Con Edison and National Grid “were barely able to provide adequate supply”
during the 2022 Winter Storm Elliott, emphasizing the need to expand and
diversify the state’s gas supply resources.”
“Had the weather been colder, the utilities would likely have
been unable to avoid thousands and potentially millions of gas outages,” the
report said. “The Winter Storm Elliott event thus demonstrates the risks
associated with over-reliance on CNG [compressed natural gas].”
“In 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued
a report sharing how important it is for New York and other Northeast states to
boost their gas energy infrastructure.”
Con Edison noted that 63% of its energy comes from natural
gas. A vast supply of natural gas is just over the border in the Marcellus
shale fields of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Trump recently vowed to build
the canceled Williams Constitution pipeline that would bring this gas into the
New York and New England region and lower natural gas prices for constituents.
The situation is such that pipelines going to New England have to go through
New York and New York has had no problem blocking pipelines for itself and its
neighbors. I agree with Trump on this one. In this case, devotion to addressing
climate change has gone too far as it threatens potentially catastrophic system
failure and assures high gas and electricity costs for the region. Bloomberg
reported:
“President Donald Trump vowed to complete the
long-stalled Constitution Pipeline that would transport natural gas to New
York, saying it could slash energy prices in northeastern US states by as much
as 70%.”
“We are going to get this done, and once we start
construction, we’re looking at anywhere from nine to 12 months, if you can
believe it,” Trump told reporters Friday after signing an executive order on
energy in the Oval Office. “It will bring down the energy prices in New York
and in all of New England by 50, 60, 70%.”
Many doubt that the savings will be that high but there will
be savings. Williams abandoned the pipeline project in 2020 due to pushback from
New York’s environmental agency about water quality concerns. Trump tried and
failed to get this project approved during his first term. All approvals were in
place but blocked only by New York state’s water quality concerns. Trump said
he would evoke eminent domain if the project continued to be blocked but hoped
he would not have to do that. He expects to meet with impacted governors soon.
This is a practical project that can really help the region and never should
have been blocked. The situation is rather simple. A region is starved for
natural gas but can’t get it even though one of the largest natural gas fields
in the world is nearby and ready to provide the gas and a pipeline company is
ready to build. New York’s extreme climate ambitions should not block common
sense solutions for its residents and for its landlocked neighbors. It is
unfair to them.
References:
Hochul
approves pipeline expansion to boost capacity as Con Ed threatens rate hike. Elaine
Mallon, Washington Examiner. February 18, 2025. Hochul
approves pipeline expansion to boost capacity as Con Ed threatens rate hike
Trump
Vows Completion of Constitution Pipeline For New Yorkers. Jennifer A. Dlouhy.
February 14, 2025. Trump
Vows Completion of Constitution Pipeline For New Yorkers
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