NYS DEC OKs permits for natural gas pipeline expansion, angering environmentalists

New York State on Friday approved critical permits for the controversial Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a natural gas pipeline expansion that will increase gas capacity into the region by 13% and hike customer bills around $7.50 a month.

The decision overturns three prior rejections of the project by the state Department of Environmental Conservation under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The project promises to bring abundant fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania along a 37-mile pipeline through New Jersey to a National Grid connecting point in the Rockaway peninsula.

National Grid has said the pipeline would generate about $4 billion in societal benefits between 2028 and 2043, while reducing the possibility of system disruptions on the coldest days. Environmental groups charge the project will tie the region to a fossil-fuel future for generations, worsening climate impacts.

The approvals issued Friday include a vital Clean Water Act Water Quality Certification for the $1 billion project, also known as NESE, which had been strongly supported by National Grid, business groups and its developer, the Williams Cos.

In filings, National Grid has said the pipeline would relieve great pressure on gas demand in the region, and that customers, including 600,000 on Long Island, would help foot the cost with bill increases of around $7.50 a month. National Grid said it could help lower regional electricity prices.

The DEC’s approval includes conditions on the construction and operation of the pipeline, including "comprehensive oversight" of the project; minimizing impacts to wildlife, including sturgeon, winter flounder and clams; and measures to prevent contaminants from entering waterways.

The approval follows a campaign against green energy initiatives by the Trump administration and a steady rollback of plans, including in New York, to retire fossil fuel plants in coming decades.

As Newsday reported, the DEC’s decision to reopen consideration of the NESE pipeline followed shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office took credit for helping reverse a Trump administration shutdown of the Empire Wind project off Long Island.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in the days after allowing construction of Empire Wind to continue issued a statement on social media saying he did so after Hochul’s "comments about her willingness to move forward on critical [natural gas] pipeline capacity." Hochul’s office denied any quid pro quo.

Hochul, in a statement, said, "While I have expressed an openness to natural gas, I have also been crystal clear that all proposed projects must be reviewed impartially by the required agencies to determine compliance with state and federal laws."

She added, "I am comfortable that in approving the permits, including a water quality certification, for the NESE application, the DEC did just that."

Environmental groups on Friday were quick to criticize the approval.

"This isn’t just a reversal; it’s a betrayal," Kim Fraczek, director of the Sane Energy Project, said in a statement, charging Hochul "has made it abundantly clear that she will abdicate her responsibility as governor, violate New York’s signature climate law, dismiss the environmental and affordability struggles facing New Yorkers, and bend the knee to Trump for political expediency."

National Grid New York president Sally Librera, in a statement, hailed state approval of the pipeline, which she said will "help bolster critical energy reliability across New York City and Long Island."

Kyle Strober, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a developers’ group, called the decision "the right one."

"The reality is our region’s demand for energy continues to grow and without a robust infrastructure in place to meet that demand we run the risk of experiencing serious shortfalls in the not-so-distant future," he wrote in a statement.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.