Con Ed Says No New Nat Gas Customers in S. Westchester
By Dan Murphy
The announcement last week by Con Edison that effective March 15 they will no longer be accepting new natural gas customers in lower Westchester County came as a shock to many developers, leaders and elected officials.
The complete statement from Con Edison, which services all of lower-mid-Westchester and most of northern Westchester, reads:
“The demand for natural gas in our service area has been experiencing significant growth primarily due to the construction of new buildings, the opening of new businesses, and conversions from oil to cleaner-burning natural gas in existing buildings. But all of this new demand for gas is reaching the limits of the current supplies to our service area.
“As a result, and to maintain reliable service to our existing natural gas customers on the coldest days, we will no longer be accepting applications for natural gas connections from new customers in most of our Westchester County service area beginning March 15, 2019. There are some areas in the northernmost sections of the county where we have more capacity and may still be able to accept new customers. Existing customers are not affected by the moratorium.
“We are developing additional programs through our Smart Solutions proposals to the NY Public Service Commission, and are working closely with NYSERDA, which offers incentive programs for clean energy solutions. Heat pumps, solar thermal and baseboard electric heating are among the alternative solutions that can meet some or all of our customers’ heating needs.
“We’ve made great strides in our efforts to improve the air quality in our service area, largely due to customers switching from heating oil to natural gas. The demand for natural gas, however, is outpacing its availability due to pipeline constraints in a portion of our service area.
“We are pursuing non-pipeline solutions and reduced reliance on fossil fuels through innovative, clean-energy technologies. We will also continue to explore opportunities for gas infrastructure projects that can meet New York State requirements. However, until our efforts align demand with available supply, we will no longer be accepting applications for new natural gas connections in most of our Westchester service area.
“We will accept applications for new gas service until March 15, 2019. Customers will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis unless it becomes necessary to stop accepting new requests before the end of the enrollment period. Customers will be provided specific timelines based on their request type. New buildings will be allowed up to 24 months to complete their projects.
“For more information, customers can call visit our website at conEd.com/NaturalGasMoratorium or contact us at 1-800-643-1289.” (End of statement.)
The Business Council of Westchester called Con Ed’s moratorium on new natural gas “a wake-up call for all who are focused on the economic present and future of Westchester and the entire metropolitan area.”
“As the leading business membership and advocacy organization in Westchester, the Business Council of Westchester takes its responsibility to our members and the greater community very seriously,” said BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon. “While the shortage announcement came as a surprise, it shouldn’t have. The supply crisis has been in the making for years as virtually any attempt to add major new natural gas capacity to the region has been either rejected or drowned out by calls for finding new alternative energy sources instead.
“All of us share in the desire to shift away from carbon fuels to renewable forms of energy. However, realistically, this is not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, natural gas is the best and least objectionable energy source and a plentiful supply is available. The problem is that there is insufficient transmission pipeline capacity to get it to us. This is a self-made problem that can and must be addressed immediately. Con Edison has the ability to deliver gas but it is unable to access additional supplies.”
Development and re-development in lower Westchester, most notably in the cities of Yonkers, New Rochelle and White Plains, will be seriously affected if new construction projects cannot connect to Con Ed’s natural gas supply.
The many questions that remain after Con Edison’s announcement are based on two different opinions on how southern Westchester got into its energy crisis. One argument, briefly articulated by the BCW, is that southern NewYork needs more pipeline access, to increase the flow of natural gas to the region.
The competing argument is that now is the time to redouble efforts to use green energy, wind and solar power, to combat global warming and wean off of fossil fuels. Which argument is correct? And can anything be done in the 45 days before the March 15 deadline?
Westchester County Executive George Latimer took a wait-and-see attitude before he made any conclusions. “Here in Westchester County we are committed to creating an environment that is nurturing to business and development,” he said. “We have learned of Con Edison’s temporary moratorium on gas service to new development, and we are concerned about this occurrence.
“However, before we draw conclusions, we must learn more about the situation. We have requested a meeting with Con Edison officials and hope to bring to the table local, state and federal officials to discuss this matter. We need to understand what led to this moratorium, how the calculation for gas is made, how many customers exist in each municipality, which slated projects are in jeopardy, which are not, the duration of the moratorium, how that calculation was determined, an overview of the regulatory process, and Con Edison’s plan for developing and implementing alternative energy sources.
“We have many questions, and are expecting Con Edison will be able to shed light on this very serious prediction. We will keep the public abreast of any developments and the outcome of the meeting.”
Business journals wrote that two proposed natural gas pipelines have failed to clear the burdensome hurdles placed on them by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration. “The state Department of Environmental Conservation has refused to issue water quality permits to the Constitution Pipeline, which would carry gas extricated in Pennsylvania to Schoharie County, as well as National Fuel’s proposed Northern Access pipeline, which would slice through Niagara County,” said Gavin Donohue, president of Independent Power Producers of New York, a statewide trade association. “Both projects have received the green light from the federal government and Pennsylvania regulators.
“It’s very concerning and alarming that we’re at the point now where there is not enough gas to supply existing customers and we’re forcing companies to burn dirtier fuel (oil). If the very cold weather we’ve been having doesn’t show the value of natural gas, I don’t know what does.”
“Meanwhile, environmentalists who oppose the projects are worried that President Donald Trump will use his executive authority to circumvent New York’s obstacles to pipelines by declaring that the need to boost the supply of gas constitutes a national emergency,” writes the BBC.
“If a polar vortex comes into the Northeast part of the country, or a cyberattack, and people literally have to start making decisions on how to keep their family warm or keep the lights on, at that time, the leadership of that state will have a real reckoning,” said U.S Energy Secretary Rick Perry at the World Gas Conference last year. “We have to have a conversation as a country. Is that a national security issue that outweighs the political concerns in Albany, N.Y.?”
Environmental and green power advocates claim that Con Ed may be crying wolf and that the problem isn’t based on the need for more pipelines, but the need to get off addiction of fossil fuels.
The New York Public Service Commission monitors the energy needs of all state residents and businesses. “We are monitoring Con Edison’s engagement with customers to explore options to reduce their energy needs or meet their needs through non-natural gas energy sources,” said James Denn, spokesman for PSC.
New Yorkers for Affordable Energy is a group that has always called for an end to what they call “the pipeline blockade.”
“There is a human cost to these policies, and vulnerable New Yorkers will bear the burden with higher home heating bills, lack of affordable housing and lost jobs,” said Peter Kauffmann, the coalition’s spokesman.
Two other looming questions about the Con Edison news shocker are: What about the future closing of Indian Point power plant and the energy that will be lost when it shuts down in 2021? And what about the much larger energy needs of New York City, and could it be next on Con Ed’s list of no new natural gas customers?
Assemblywoman Amy Paulin was one of many local officials wondering how this happened. “We just can’t stop all economic development, all affordable housing projects, all residential development, which is what this moratorium will do. This is going to half every single revenue producer for every community that we have,” she said. “It’s going to devastate our communities.”
