ALBANY — Businesses, developers and homeowners looking to switch to natural gas from oil or get service for new construction projects in much of southern Westchester County are out of luck.
Con Edison has officially imposed a moratorium on new firm service in southern Westchester, something it has been warning state policymakers would happen for months. The gas utility will stop accepting applications for new service on March 15. The moratorium applies to communities in the county south of Bedford, Mount Kisco and New Castle.
Still, local officials expressed shock Friday.
“If this was brewing, we should have known about this a year ago,” said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale). “It’s going to devastate development in Westchester, including affordable housing initiatives, all economic development … It sounds at first blush that we have a major catastrophe.”
Paulin said development in New Rochelle, which has received $10 million from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s downtown investment program, could be stalled.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said it would stop a “building boom” in the state’s fourth-largest city.
“Developers are already telling us they can’t build more housing or commercial buildings until this is resolved,” he said in a statement. “Con Ed and the Public Service Commission need to implement an immediate plan to solve this.”
The moratorium is the result of high gas demand on the coldest winter days and the limited pipeline capacity in the area. While Con Edison proposed non-pipeline alternatives in an attempt to avoid blocking new gas hookups, the proposals were ultimately not enough to alleviate the need for a new pipeline.
"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," Con Ed states on its website with information about the moratorium. "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."
The Cuomo administration has rejected permits for most new gas pipeline projects in recent years, leading to pipeline developers shying away from proposing projects in the state. Environmental advocates are pressuring Cuomo to reject all new gas infrastructure, including a pipeline National Grid says is needed to avoid its own moratoriums on Long Island and in the city.
“Con Edison’s temporary moratorium is the result of a significant recent spike in demand for gas,” said PSC spokesman Jim Denn. “The company did not propose a pipeline to meet or address growing demand.”
Denn said the PSC would monitor the utilities' interactions with customers to make sure they’re apprised of alternatives.
“The Commission is committed to ensuring that consumers have access to affordable, clean and reliable energy sources,” he said. “We will push all utilities to address changing market dynamics, while achieving our clean energy objectives and advancing economic growth.”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins chided the utility in statement.
"Con Edison's hasty announcement will hurt many communities and residents in the southern part of Westchester County," she said. "Their actions will impede smart investments in commercial and affordable housing projects aimed at improving our neighborhoods and local economy. Following last year's storms we had hoped that Con Edison would work better to be a partner in improving our community, not a hindrance."
New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, a business and labor-backed group, blamed the moratorium on Cuomo’s recent antipathy toward pipelines.
“This action is a direct result of the state's continued blockade on natural gas infrastructure, which will make it harder and harder — and more and more expensive — for New Yorkers to heat their homes and run their businesses,” said Peter Kauffmann, the group's spokesperson. “This notice, coupled with single-digit temperatures, should be a wake-up call for Albany that if this trend continues New Yorkers will be left vulnerable and without reliable, affordable heat. Winter isn’t coming; winter is here."
Con Edison has not been able to find a new pipeline supply and has also warned that moratoriums may eventually be necessary in New York City. Cuomo’s former deputy secretary for energy met with Con Ed executives about potential moratoriums in early December.
Paulin said the first step should be to find a solution for the immediate challenge in Westchester County, but that the state would also need to address the gas supply issue in New York City and Long Island because of the importance of the region as an economic driver for the entire state.
Part of the growing demand for natural gas has been driven by businesses and residents switching off oil and other, higher-emitting and more costly fuels to the cleaner-burning natural gas.
Con Edison states it is looking to help provide alternatives for businesses, homeowners and developers looking for gas service. That includes electric heating options, such as heat pumps, and taking interruptible service for commercial projects which would then require an on-site fuel supply when the gas system is constrained, typically oil.
The company is also exploring an oil-to-electric conversion pilot and requesting proposals from third parties on that.
A recent analysis by NYSERDA found that electric heating options were not cost-effective, even when accounting for emissions reduction benefits, when compared to natural gas in the downstate region.
“[Alternatives] should be encouraged, and we certainly should have the goal of 100 percent renewable … but in the interim we cannot stop the economic and housing development in our community, so I don’t know that these solutions are viable,” Paulin said. “I am hearing that they’re not and I’m concerned about it.”
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