We have no more money left. The utility said the existing infrastructure that brings gas to the region is at capacity.The utility blames the Andrew Cuomo administration for rejecting a proposed pipeline beneath New York harbor that would bring natural gas from fields in Pennsylvania to the region. Appearing on WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show today, Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke out forcefully against the Williams fracked gas pipeline proposed for the New York Harbor, and suggested that National Grid’s moratorium on gas service could amount to extortion. If completed, National Grid says it would the company’s capacity by 14 percent. The company was already aiming to upgrade the facility after more than 50 years of operation. With Williams pipeline shelved, activists target new National Grid gas projects . In May, the company recommended two options: building Williams' Northeast Supply Enhancement project, known as NESE, or a combination of new LNG vaporizers in Brooklyn, compression enhancements on the Iroquois system, and incremental energy efficiency and demand response.National Grid said June 11 that it continues to work with New York on finding a "final long-term solution. National Grid has said that the 0.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas that Williams would provide through the pipeline each day – roughly the amount needed daily for about 2 million homes – would ensure that National Grid could keep up with projected demand growth of about 10% in the next decade – especially when demand peaks on the coldest days of the year. Author Tom DiChristopher; Theme Energy; Emboldened by the recent cancellation of a fiercely disputed natural gas pipeline project, climate activists are now looking to defeat National Grid USA's top alternative for addressing a downstate gas supply crunch. These options are being reviewed by an independent monitor and DPS staff," DPS spokesperson James Denn said in an email. "There is nothing in this statement that wouldn't also apply to the other fracked gas options proposed by National Grid," the Stop the Williams Pipeline Coalition said in a June 3 letter to the Public Service Commission.
In its decision, the DEC said "the continued long-term use of fossil fuels is inconsistent with the state's laws and objectives and with the actions necessary to prevent the most severe impacts from climate change. Environmentalists bitterly oppose the pipeline.A community center in Brooklyn offers language classes, afterschool activities, and more to thousands of people each year.But when cold weather sets in, the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn may not be able to offer something more basic: heat and hot water. "So it affects a lot of people."Local lawmakers are angry, too, but they blame the utility. That includes National Grid's recommendation to build new liquefied natural gas vaporizers and enhance compression on the Iroquois Gas Transmission System LP.Essential Energy Insights - May 14, 2020Deep Dive on Oil & Gas for Financial InstitutionsNational Grid said the option is consistent with New York's climate goals. The center is one of 2,600 applicants for natural gas service in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island that have been thrown in limbo since National Grid imposed a freeze on new hookups.The utility is telling potential customers, like Julie Levin, a mother of three waiting to move into a new home in Park Slope, to call their state lawmakers to support the pipeline â a hostage situation to its critics."I didn't know what it was until I researched it, and I actually, loving our environment, am against this pipeline, but I do need gas," Park Slope resident Julie Levin said at the news conference. The groups instead want New York to opt for noninfrastructure solutions, including new energy efficiency and demand response measures and electric heating system adoption.Climate activists have seized on that aspect of the DEC's decision to argue against any fossil fuel option.Shortly after, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, rejected NESE's application for a critical water quality permit, prompting Williams to shelve the project. The center is one of 2,600 applicants for natural gas service in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island that have been thrown in limbo since National Grid imposed a freeze on new hookups. The climate coalition expressed concern that the Public Service Commission did not make time to discuss the options at its June 11 public meeting.In a June 8 letter to Cuomo signed by 160 environmental groups, the Alliance for a Green Economy called the LNG and pipeline compression options "false 'solutions'" that "would serve the same purpose as the Williams Pipeline: to bring more methane gas into New York, frustrating the much needed transition away from fossil fuels."