This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here.
New York environmental regulators on Friday approved a major Trump-backed underwater gas pipeline in a U-turn for state energy policy.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued crucial water permits for the Northeast Supply Enhancement project, which it had rejected three times in the past.
At the same time, the DEC announced that the even larger Constitution pipeline, slated to cross New York into New England, would not move ahead. Both pipelines were priorities for President Donald Trump, who railed against Governor Kathy Hochul on social media earlier this week for moving too slowly on the projects.
Hochul said she stood by the DEC’s decisions.
“We need to govern in reality,” she said in a statement Friday. “We are facing war against clean energy from Washington Republicans, including our New York delegation, which is why we have adopted an all-of-the-above approach that includes a continued commitment to renewables and nuclear power to ensure grid reliability and affordability.”
She said that DEC’s approvals followed the review standard she had spelled out to Trump in May during talks that many credited with reviving the two pipeline projects. (Hochul has denied any quid pro quo.)
“While I have expressed an openness to natural gas, I have also been crystal clear that all proposed projects must be reviewed impartially by the required agencies to determine compliance with state and federal laws,” Hochul said, noting that the Constitution pipeline failed to meet the bar.
NESE is set to be New York’s first new gas pipeline in at least a decade, and by far the state’s largest expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure since passing its flagship climate law in 2019.
Climate advocacy groups pounced on the decision, calling it a betrayal.
“Hochul has shown New Yorkers she’d prefer to do Trump’s dirty work rather than protect our waterways from pollution,” said Laura Shindell, New York state director at Food & Water Watch. “She hasn’t kept her promises to fight against skyrocketing energy bills or the climate crisis. But New Yorkers will fight Hochul’s dirty pipeline every step of the way — alongside our communities — until it is stopped for good.”
“Governor Hochul is turning her back on the same agency scientists that determined the NESE pipeline would cause unacceptable degradation of water quality and marine life to NY waters just a few years ago,” said Roger Downs, conservation director of the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter.
The DEC’s cover letter for the NESE permits did not detail how the pipeline’s construction would meet state water standards when the agency found the opposite five years ago, except noting that burying the pipeline two feet shallower than previously planned would dredge up less toxic sediment. The main permit requires Williams, the pipeline builder, to pay about $24 million to compensate for damages to fish and clam habitats.
The DEC stated outright that the project is “inconsistent” with the emissions requirements of the state’s climate law, but said that mandate was overridden by energy regulators’ September finding that the pipeline was needed to maintain a reliable gas system downstate.
The pipeline is projected to cost upwards of $2 billion, adding an extra $7.50 per month to average gas bills for National Grid customers in New York City and Long Island, the utility has estimated.
The Independent Power Producers of New York, a power plant trade group, cheered the decision.
““New York’s energy landscape is at a pivotal moment,” said the group’s president Gavin Donohue. “I commend the DEC for recognizing that natural gas will continue to play a key role in the State’s energy future.”
Environmental groups are likely to sue.