NY Police State: Cuomo Orders Natl Grid to Hook Up Gas Customers
Sounding like North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday “ordered” National Grid to connect 1,157 new natural gas customers previously denied service because National Grid won’t have enough natural gas on the coldest days in winter to service everyone. New York has descended into a police state, with our Dear Leader ordering around companies in contravention of established law. Yet not a peep from mainstream news organizations about Cuomo’s excessive abuse of power.
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National Grid, the electric and natural gas utility company that serves part of New York City and all of Long Island, has been the target of a smear campaign by New York Gov. Cuomo, who ordered his Dept. of Environment Conservation (DEC) to reject the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project in May (see 
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the utility and midstream giant based in Buffalo, NY, remains committed to building it’s Northern Access Pipeline project, a $500 million project that includes building 97 miles of new pipeline along a power line corridor from northwestern Pennsylvania up to Erie County, NY. The project also calls for 3 miles of new pipeline further up, in Niagara County, along with a new compressor station in the Town of Pendleton. Although New York State (under the profoundly corrupt Andrew Cuomo) continues to try and block the project, NFG says they will build it–in the 2022-23 time frame.
In October 2012, after a rigorous review by New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Cricket Valley Energy Center in Dutchess County was accepted and approved. Construction of the 1,100 megawatt plant (to fed by PA Marcellus gas) began in July 2017 (see 
In New York State it’s not popular–frankly it’s not safe–if you’re a Democrat who opposes mob boss Andrew Cuomo for any reason/any issue. Yet six Long Island State Senators, all Democrats, are doing just that. The six sent a letter to Basil Seggos, who runs the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and does whatever Cuomo tells him to do, asking Seggos to provisionally approve the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project.
Every now and again we like to check in on a company that continues to keep the faith with respect to shale drilling in New York State. Empire Energy, according to its website, owns “large scale shale acreage” in the Marcellus, Utica and Bakken. Most of Empire’s Marcellus/Utica shale acreage is in New York State–where shale drilling is (so far) not allowed. According to a recent press release, Empire continues to hold its NY shale acreage “at minimal cost.”
Not everyone who lives in the Greater New York City area is falling for the bogus line by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that he’s not to blame for a natural gas shortage plaguing the region. As we’ve chronicled, endlessly, Cuomo ordered his Dept. of Environment Conservation to reject the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
Consolidated Edison (Con Ed), the electric and natural gas utility that services parts of New York City and to the north of NY, Westchester County, is getting desperate in their bid to locate sites where they can unload CNG (compressed natural gas) trucks into their pipeline network in Westchester County. You may recall Con Ed was the first utility to slap a moratorium on any new natgas customers from hooking up to their supply system in Westchester, back in March (see 
We have a bona fide mystery on our hands–a mystery that may signal a happy ending for the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project getting approved. One of the first statements (threats) utility company National Grid made in relation to NESE is that if NESE, a Williams Transco Pipeline project meant to increase pipeline capacity and flows heading into northeastern markets, including to Long Island doesn’t happen, National Grid will not connect natural gas to a new $1.3 billion stadium complex on Long Island to host the New York Islanders hockey team (see 
We recently spotted a column on the Forbes website by one of our favorite authors, Jude Clemente, under the title that “Gov. Cuomo Should Support The Constitution Natural Gas Pipeline.” Well, of course he should! We’ve argued that for years. In digging into the article, we found Clemente uses facts and figures to build his case for *why* Cuomo should support it–indeed, why it would be stark…raving…mad not to support it. For example, did you know that natural gas is the main source of energy in NY–double that of gasoline? Who knew?!
Just prior to taking a long Labor Day holiday weekend, MDN brought you news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has overruled New York State to allow the Constitution Pipeline to move forward with construction (see 
You can’t say we didn’t see this one coming. Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled that the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) took too long to deny a federal Clean Water Act “Section 401” water crossing permit for the Williams Constitution Pipeline project (see