Energy policy will be a key issue during the next legislative session as well as in the next race for governor in New York.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has positioned herself as a moderate, taking an all-of-the-above approach on energy, which includes nuclear power.
On Hochul’s right, the likely challenger is Republican U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has consistently blamed the governor for the state’s rising energy costs and blames Democrats generally for shutting down the fracking industry in the state (which took place under Gov. Andrew Cuomo).
Hochul is being primaried on her left by Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who is amplifying what some have described as a deal made between Hochul and President Donald Trump to approve two pipelines in exchange for allowing an offshore wind power project to continue.
Earlier Thursday, the state Public Service Commission gave its backing to one of those pipelines — the Williams NESE pipeline — which still needs a Department of Environmental Conservation water quality permit to be built.
If the pipeline is built, it would carry fracked gas from New Jersey to New York.
Permits for the pipeline have been denied multiple times due to water quality concerns. The Williams Companies resubmitted the controversial project in late May.
In an emailed statement, Ken Lovett, senior communications advisor on energy and environment for Gov. Hochul said, “The PSC’s action recognizes what Governor Hochul has regularly been warning: we need to find different ways to ensure our energy system can continue to operate reliably as our demand increases.”
“At a time when the federal government has launched a full-on attack on renewables, the Governor is pushing an all-of-the-above approach that prioritizes affordability, grid reliability, and economic development.”
“While the Governor understands the PSC’s finding that National Grid’s long-term plan addresses a reliability need, she has also been clear that any application to DEC to resolve that need must be reviewed impartially to determine compliance with state and federal laws.”
On Thursday, Capital Tonight heard arguments on both sides of the pipeline debate, as well as on energy policy in New York more broadly. Kim Fraczek, the director of the Sane Energy Project, discussed a report her organization commissioned from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) indicating that the state’s energy needs can be filled without a new pipeline.
The report also stated that it’s questionable whether the pipeline would reduce electricity bills considering the costs of building it would offset any such benefit.
Capital Tonight also spoke with Republican state Assemblyman Phil Palmesano who, along with several of his colleagues, has been traveling the state in the footsteps of the state Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which is holding public hearings on the state’s proposed energy plan Draft 2025 Energy Plan – New York State New Energy Plan
While Palmesano agrees with the governor’s position on nuclear power, and supports the Williams NESE pipeline project, he argues that Democrats are otherwise “dismantling the affordable and reliable natural gas infrastructure, supply and delivery system.”