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FERC Approves Empire Pipe Request for 2 New Compressors in PA, NY
Well well well–this news is sure to ruin the day of irrational fossil fuel haters in New York and Pennsylvania. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week approved a request by National Fuel Gas Company subsidiary Empire Pipeline to build two new compressor stations along the Empire Pipeline–one in Tioga County, PA, the other in Ontario County, NY, to flow an extra 205 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of yummy fracked PA gas into the Empire State (don’t tell Cuomo).
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Williams is in the fight of its life to get New York State to approve its Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project (see 
USA Today recently published an article picked up from the investor website 24/7 Wall Street that analyzes the average cost per kilowatt hour for electricity state by state–all 50 states. It’s not surprising that Hawaii and Alaska are in the top two highest rates in the nation, separated from the Lower 48.
You can feel the excitement and anticipation building. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the Constitution Pipeline from northeast Pennsylvania into central New York in 2014, more than four years ago. This year, 2019, may be the year construction finally begins–and the year antis who have fought this pipeline every inch of the way finally LOSE.
The light at the end of the tunnel for Constitution Pipeline just got brighter. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to pass the ball back to them so they can reconsider whether or not to overrule New York State’s blockage of a permit for the Constitution. FERC’s action signals they may be ready to rule against NY and allow Constitution to begin construction.
Now that the reality has begun to sink in that there will be no magic bullet, no magic wand waved to prevent Consolidated Edison from refusing to add new customers (like hotels, apartment buildings, etc.) to its natural gas distribution system in Westchester County, NY, politicians and business leaders in the county are beginning to soil themselves. Certainly metaphorically–maybe literally.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s foolish policies have finally come home to roost. You can only overtax and overregulate for so long before a state’s economy comes tumbling down–and that’s just what’s happening to poor Andy, who went hat-in-hand to the White House on Tuesday to beg and plead with The Donald to tweak the newly implemented tax federal tax cut.
Utility company Consolidated Edison recently announced it will slap a moratorium on hooking up new customers for natural gas in Westchester County (NYC suburb) beginning March 15 (see 
It’s no secret that getting a gas pipeline project of any kind approved in New York State is an uphill battle because our governor, Andrew Cuomo, blocks all new pipelines in a bid to keep his left wing supporters happy. An important project from Williams, the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) which would beef up capacity along the Transco pipeline system going into New York City, is about to get two hearings with the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation.
It is beyond bizarre that the Sierra Club, which claims it defends the environment, works so hard to stop electric generating plants from converting from coal to natural gas. As we pointed out yesterday, gas-fired plants produce a small fraction of nasty pollutants like sulfur dioxide, compared with coal (see 