NESE Gas Pipeline Moves Forward in New York Amid Environmental and Cost Concerns

The previously rejected Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) gas pipeline is getting a second chance in downstate New York.

Last month, the New York State Public Service Commission accepted National Grid’s plan to contract for the capacity of NESE. Proposed by the Tulsa-based Williams Companies, NESE would bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey, New York and Raritan Bay, and into the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

NESE and its companion project, the Constitution Pipeline in Upstate New York are both being pushed through state agencies even though they have both been rejected due to water quality concerns in the past.

Many environmental advocates have had their eyes on these negotiations since it was announced earlier this year that Governor Kathy Hochul and President Trump had come to an agreement about allowing the pipeline projects in order to secure the continued construction of the Empire Wind Project. However, the rate at which the proposal is being advanced is unprecedented even to those who have fought against it for the last decade

Christopher Casey, Utility Regulatory Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, New York discussed the brevity of the public comment period that allowed for all parties to discuss the project.

”The idea that there has been a long discussion and plenty of opportunity to kind of dig into the facts about this is just not so,” said Casey. “I have never seen the commission come out with an order less than two weeks after the parties to the case filed comments and I think it would be extremely difficult for them to actually consider in such a short time and incorporate them into their decision.”

In a public statement, National Grid New York President Sally Librera said of the approval, “The PSC order today affirms our determination that the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is needed for enhanced reliability of our gas network … National Grid is committed to delivering secure, affordable, and clean energy to the communities we serve. As New York’s power needs continue to grow and evolve, we believe the all-of-the-above energy strategy endorsed by Governor Hochul is essential to maintaining a resilient power network for millions of New Yorkers.”

However, Casey maintains that National Grid’s plan for estimating the need for the project was outdated and based on pre-pandemic economic measurements. In addition, The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that rate payers in New York City and Long Island would be largely responsible to pay for the cost of the estimated $1.25 Billion project.

“We thought the estimate of those benefits was really flawed. It was dependent on the coldest weather year that has ever happened to occur every single year for the course of this pipeline,” said Casey. “And that’s just a really unrealistic, assumption of what’s going to occur, especially when we are in a warming world where winters are not getting colder and colder. They’re overall getting warmer and warmer.”

Of the decision, James Denn of the Public Service Commission said in a comment to Radio Catskill, “The PSC did not vote to approve NESE. The PSC accepted National Grid’s gas system long-term reliability plan that states that NESE is needed to meet an energy reliability need. The permitting process for NESE is ongoing and does not involve PSC.”

Radio Catskill reached out to Williams Companies and National Grid for additional comments, but we have not heard back from them at the time of this publishing.

Image: Protests in 2019 before NESE was originally rejected the next year. (Credit:NRDC.org)