Earlier Thursday, the state Public Service Commission gave its backing to one of those pipelines<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the Williams NESE pipeline\u00a0\u2014 which still needs a Department of Environmental Conservation water quality permit to be built.<\/p>\n If the pipeline is built, it would carry fracked gas from New Jersey to New York.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Permits for the pipeline have been denied multiple times due to water quality concerns. The Williams Companies resubmitted the controversial project in late May.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an emailed statement, Ken Lovett, senior communications advisor on energy and environment for Gov. Hochul said,\u00a0\u201cThe PSC’s action recognizes what Governor Hochul has regularly been warning: we need to find different ways to ensure our\u00a0energy system\u00a0can continue to operate reliably as our demand increases.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile 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.”<\/p>\n 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\u2019s energy needs can be filled without a new pipeline.\u00a0<\/p>\n The report also stated that it\u2019s questionable whether the pipeline would reduce electricity bills considering the costs of building it would offset any such benefit.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s proposed energy plan Draft 2025 Energy Plan – New York State New Energy Plan<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/nys-capital-tonight-time-graphic-promo960x540jpgjpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n