Jim Willis
Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)
Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw lays it all out, with unapologetic language; New York and New Jersey governors stuck it to everyone in vetoing NESE.
Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw, a Republican whose district covers portions of central and northeast PA, has his praiseworthy moments. This is one of them. Last week New York’s uber-corrupt Governor, Andrew Cuomo, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, once again pandered to their radical Democrat base by rejecting a critically needed natural gas pipeline. The Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline would have flowed PA Marcellus shale gas to New York City and Long Island. Yaw blasted NY and NJ for their rejection using strong language.
New York State Primary Consumption of Energy for Electric Generation, 2002–2016; note natural gas and net imports growth compared to wind and other renewables
Yaw makes the same argument we made upon learning of this latest NESE rejection: Sooner or later NYC and Long Island will run out of natural gas. That’s when the big clumps of doo-doo are going to hit the fan. Cuomo will try to blame the victim–utility company National Grid. When (not if) the gas runs out, there will be no place for man-child Cuomo to hide. He owns this. He’s been warned by National Grid, repeatedly.
Gene Yaw not only takes NY and NJ to task for their foolish rejection of NESE, he also takes a swipe at PA’s Democrat Governor, Tom Wolf, for his pigheaded insistence on having PA join NY and NJ in a carbon tax scheme called RGGI, which would tax some PA natural gas power plants out of existence. From the Harrisburg Patriot-News:
A state lawmaker has blasted New York and New Jersey for rejecting a permit for a pipeline that would supply Pennsylvania natural gas to Queens, Brooklyn and parts of Long Island.
“Our neighboring states thumb their nose at Pennsylvania gas and embrace the purchase of gas from Eastern Europe,” state Sen. Gene Yaw said Friday.
He was reacting to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection rejection of the $1 billion Williams’ Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement Project.
Regulators in both states issued their denials May 15 claiming the project that includes a 23-mile section under Raritan Bay fails to meet water quality standards and would significantly impact the environment.
The New York rejection was done in such a way Williams could submit a revised permit application.
Yaw, chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said those actions have stalled infrastructure development that is “vital to creating new markets for Pennsylvania natural gas and related liquids.”
He added, “The lack of pipeline development is also contributing to the large price disparity that is putting Pennsylvania gas producers at a disadvantage while aiding our global natural gas competitors.”
The lawmaker encouraged New York and New Jersey leaders “to take a realistic look at where their energy needs stand and the implications of the choices they are making.”
If built, the project will provide customers access to an additional 400 million cubic feet of natural gas a day that Williams says would serve the daily needs of about 2.3 million homes.
It will provide service to the National Grid, the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast, that Williams says has experienced significant growth much of which is due to continued conversion from oil heat.
Yaw also took a swipe at Gov. Wolf for pushing to join New York and New Jersey in participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Under that initiative, those states stand to benefit from our power generation “while telling us how to produce that power,” he said.
“To participate in RGGI is to ignore the positive environmental impacts that are taking place right here in Pennsylvania, which include a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions over the past two decades.”
Yaw cited U.S. Energy Information Administration data that shows carbon monoxide emissions from the state’s electric power sector have declined by 36 percent since 2010 in large part due to the increased use of natural gas for generation. (1)
Here is Gene Yaw’s full statement from last Friday:
State Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23), Chairman of the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, issued the following statement today in response to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) rejection of the Williams’ 400-MMcfd Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project. The project would have supplied Pennsylvania natural gas to Queens, Brooklyn, and parts of Long Island, NY, and included a 23-mile subsea stretch across Raritan Bay.
“As lawmakers, we have an obligation to be aware of the competing interests that involve our state and the nation. The actions of New York and New Jersey regulators have stalled infrastructure development that is vital to creating new markets for Pennsylvania natural gas and related liquids, not only here at home, but across the northeast and world. The lack of pipeline development is also contributing to the large price disparity that is putting Pennsylvania gas producers at a disadvantage, while aiding our global natural gas competitors. Our neighboring states thumb their nose at Pennsylvania gas and embrace the purchase of gas from Eastern Europe. I encourage New York and New Jersey leaders to take a realistic look at where their energy needs stand and the implications of the choices they are making. Sooner or later the lights will go out, a stern warning already issued by National Grid and Con Ed.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement project, in conjunction with the National Grid, could have provided for thousands of conversions from heating oil to natural gas, displacing 900,000 barrels of heating oil each year. The project could have provided for business expansions and new real estate developments throughout New York City and Long Island. It would have helped meet the region’s growing energy needs, a demand which renewable energy sources cannot meet, while helping achieve its clean air goals through the reduction of nearly 200,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. That is the equivalent of removing nearly 500,000 cars off of our roadways.
At the same time as our neighboring states work to stop pipeline development, our own governor pushes to join with these states by participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Under RGGI, those states stand to benefit from our power generation, while telling us how to produce that power. To participate in RGGI is to ignore the positive environmental impacts that are taking place right here in Pennsylvania, which include a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions over the past two decades. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, CO2 emissions from Pennsylvania’s electric power sector have declined by 36 percent since 2010, thanks in large part to the increased use of natural gas for electric generation. New York and New Jersey need to follow our lead.”
For more great articles on natural gas development every single day, subscribe to Marcellus Drilling News using this convenient link.
This post appeared first on Natural Gas Now.