Underground Construction - December 2019 - 6

EDITOR'S LOG

Robert Carpenter | Editor-in-Chief

The Gas War of NY Governor

The wind blows hard from the state of New
York's governor's office. Chicago is known
as the Windy City but it's got nothing
on the hot air flowing out of New York
Governor Andrew Cuomo's headquarters.
The third-term governor has emerged
as a fervent anti-carbon stalwart. The
latest insanity is over Cuomo's battle with
regional gas utility National Grid and his
efforts to block a pipeline expansion, but
his history of anti-carbon behavior goes
back several years.
Cuomo fired the first volley against
the oil and gas industry in 2014 when
he issued a ban on hydraulic fracturing.
While parts of western and upstate New
York are rich with oil and gas bearing
shale rock, none of it has been developed
due to the ban. Business conditions
remain very challenging in those areas
and citizens were hoping for an economic
boost similar to what has occurred in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
Cuomo's ban killed those hopes and has
kept New York dependent upon fuel
sources from outside the state.
Recently, Cuomo's anti-oil and gas
perspectives took another ill-advised
step when he directed state agencies to
delay - with the intention to outright
ban - permits to build a critical pipeline
that was slated to bring much-needed
natural gas into the state. The $1 billion
6

DECEMBER 2019 | UConOnline.com

Constitution Pipeline, being built by
Williams, would bring an ample supply of
gas to New York City and Long Island.
One might think that the state of New
York as a whole is solidly against the use
of natural gas for its heating and related
energy needs in any way, shape or form
- just like their governor. Curiously, just
the opposite is true. A 2017 U.S. Census
American Housing Survey revealed that
57 percent of the state's 7.4 million
households now use natural gas for space
heating while 23 percent still use fuel oil.
Just since 2009, the total number of NY
households using natural gas for space
heating has grown by more than 475,000
households. A heavy concentration of that
growth has been in the greater NYC area.
Obviously, New York residents have
seen the practicality and efficiency of
natural gas in lieu of traditional fuel oil.
Clean, efficient and cheap natural gas
seems like a perfect fit for this dense
population corridor. But, as so often
is the case, NY state officials, led by
Cuomo, assume they know better
than their citizenry.
Cuomo has stopped any efforts to
produce oil and gas from the rich deposits
in-state. That means for National Grid,
it has to import vast quantities of
natural gas despite the practical, efficient
and economy-boosting supplies of gas
available nearby. The obvious solution
was to build a pipeline from New Jersey
where gas supplies were flowing so the
Constitution Pipeline was conceived and
designed to be that solution.
Then Cuomo decided to go after
pipelines. Of course, banning ban
pipelines is an essential principal of
radical environmental groups and Cuomo,
for whatever reason, has drank that
poisoned Kool-Aid.
Understandably, National Grid was
having trouble meeting not only current
needs of its customers but anticipated
increased demand as well. So, in May, as
the battle for the Constitution Pipeline

raged on, it should have come as no
surprise to anyone when National Grid
was forced to issue the bad news; it
announced a moratorium on gas hookups. Come winter, there simply wouldn't
be enough supply to meet additional
needs without the pipeline transporting
additional gas.
Cuomo, faced with rising criticism
and potentially leaving 1,100 customers
(read 'voters') without heat as winter
approached, decided to lash out against
National Grid. He blamed the utility
for mishandling the gas supply system.
He claims National Grid did not explore
alternative options for supplying gas to
stranded customers. Cuomo went so far
as to suggest transporting gas by trucks
or rail. Cuomo is demanding action, or
he'll find a way revoke National Grid's
license to operate.
Admittedly, truck or rail transportation
is an option, albeit a poor one. I'm
confident that was already considered.
National Grid was probably not too
thrilled with the expensive, inefficient and
much less desirable options of shipping
large quantities of gas via trucks or rail.
The safety and environmental record
of those transportation options are
horrendous when compared to pipeline
transportation. Toronto and other areas
have experienced disastrous consequences
of railroad shipping. Trucking gas and oil
has a long and well-documented history
of leaks and spills. Pipelines are the
safest, most reliable and generally most
economical method to transport energy.
Apparently, none of that means
anything to Cuomo or his cronies.
In his mind, anti-carbon politics are
worth making the citizens of New York
suffer as pawns in his political games,
no matter what the cost. *
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Underground Construction - December 2019

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