Environmental groups slam gas push

Politico

07-07-2025

Good morning and welcome to the weekly Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We'll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS PUSH BACK ON GAS PLANTS: Environmentalists slammed conclusions by the state's independent grid operator that new or repowered fossil fuel units may be needed for reliability. The New York Independent System Operator indicated in its most recent 'Power Trends' report — a summary of previous analysis with additional context designed to keep policymakers and the public informed about the electric grid — that repowering gas plants should be considered given growing demand and a slow buildout of renewables.
But environmental groups — Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund, Evergreen Action and WE ACT for Environmental Justice — want Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration to reject calls for more gas power. 'It seems that NYISO is irresponsibly seeking to create a false narrative that New York needs new gas generation, even though there is no evidence to support that claim,' says a letter sent from the groups to Hochul and state officials. The NYISO's most recent reliability analysis that the 'Power Trends' report is based on did not find a statewide reliability issue, based on new large loads being flexible enough to turn off when needed. It did identify reliability problems in New York City if NYPA retires its natural gas peakers. But the grid operator has repeatedly been raising concerns about the narrowing margins for reliability and the aging fossil fuel fleet.
The letter also criticizes the lengthy interconnection timelines for renewables, saying that resources take 6 to 7 years to connect. That aligns with findings from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, but may not take into account delays caused by developers changing project design, choosing to wait for state contracts or permits, or other factors out of the NYISO's control. NYISO spokesperson Kevin Lanahan said the grid operator has made significant improvements in recent years to reduce interconnection timelines. The targeted timeline for the current process is 1.6 years. 'We continue to meet with all stakeholders, including Earthjustice and EDF, through our open governance process to identify further improvements to interconnection while also maintaining reliability of the electric grid,' he said.
''Power Trends' suggests that the repowering of all aging resource types — renewable and fossil — be examined to determine the opportunity for capacity additions, efficiency, and carbon reductions,' Lanahan said. 'Doing so may help bridge New York to its climate goals.'
Although the letter calls on Hochul to reject gas power plants, her administration has also warmed to the idea that gas will continue to be needed to meet demand from large new factories upstate and electrification of vehicles and buildings. Hochul officials referred to the NYISO's findings as part of the state's energy planning process, which modeled a pathway that involves continued reliance on fossil fuel energy and repowering of aging fossil fuel power plants. One scenario includes potentially relying on gas beyond the state's statutory 2040 deadline for zero emission electricity. 'The plan is talking about wind, solar, energy storage and also repowering aging combustion power plants as a way to move from here to there, as well as the contribution … of emissions free resources that are dispatchable like advanced nuclear,' said NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris last month. The governor announced plans for NYPA to build at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear power. — Marie J. French
ICYMI: NJ TRANSIT CASES GO TO SCOTUS — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: A pair of bus accidents is prompting the Supreme Court to reckon with the scope of state entities' immunity from lawsuits.
The court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving NJ Transit, which is being sued in Pennsylvania and New York state court after its buses allegedly hit people outside the borders of its home base Garden State.
The high court sees a novel legal issue in the otherwise routine personal injury claims — which is partly of its own making. In 2019, it ruled 5-4 that one state cannot be sued in another state's courts without the first state's consent.
The ruling left unclear where to draw the line on which state entities get such immunity, leaving open a question about entities like state hospitals, student loan servicers and public transit providers. Attorneys in the personal injury cases argued NJ Transit isn't actually entitled to a state's immunity, even though the transit agency was created by the state. NJ Transit said lawsuits should be brought against it in New Jersey state court because that's where it is based.
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Here's what we're watching this week:
TUESDAY
— The Department of Public Service holds in-person public hearings on Con Ed's rate hike request, 1 p.m., Borough of Manhattan Community College, and 6 p.m., Cortlandt Town Hall.
WEDNESDAY
— The Department of Public Service holds in-person public hearings on Con Ed's rate hike request, 1 p.m., Brooklyn Borough Hall, and 6 p.m., Westchester County Center.
THURSDAY
— The Department of Public Service holds in-person public hearings on Con Ed's rate hike request, 1 p.m., C.W. Mixon Center, 112-50 Springfield Blvd., Queens Village, and 6 p.m, Residence Inn — Marriott Meeting Rooms A and B, 1776 Eastchester Road, Bronx.
Around New York
— National Grid is installing smart meters in western New York.
— Drone sightings of sharks shut down beaches in New York.
Around New Jersey
— Threats to the Delaware River watershed.
— Court decision upholds compressor station project permit.
What you may have missed
PIPELINE TEST — POLITICO's Marie J. French: Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a major decision on a new pipeline supported by President Donald Trump to bring more natural gas into the New York City region.
The Department of Environmental Conservation declared the application for a water quality permit for the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project complete on Wednesday. The pipeline would run 24 miles from New Jersey, across the Raritan Bay, to connect to the pipeline system in the Rockaways.
The state told federal agencies last month it would make a decision on the project by Nov. 30, in compliance with an accelerated timeline under a Trump executive order. The DEC declined to schedule any public hearings at this stage, a move sure to spark pushback from environmental advocates.
— National Grid filed an updated long-term gas plan Wednesday, highlighting reliability and cost savings for customers if NESE is built.
'National Grid is committed to fulfilling our responsibility to provide safe, reliable, and affordable energy to our customers,' said Sally Librera, president of National Grid New York. 'This addendum to our Gas System Long-Term Plan outlines critical investments necessary to ensure our gas network continues to operate dependably and supports the region's growing energy needs.'
— NEW JERSEY LEG: The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said it has received land use and air permit applications from Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. for the portion of its proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline in the Garden State. A DEP spokesperson said most of the permits have a 120-day total permit review window but a Freshwater Wetlands permit does not have a statutory deadline.
Several New Jersey towns have passed resolutions opposing the project, according to the Sierra Club, which also opposes it. — Ry Rivard
PORTAL NORTH — Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) toured the Portal North Bridge project on Wednesday morning along with top officials from NJ Transit and Amtrak. The bridge, which is part of the larger Gateway program and sits between Jersey City and Newark, will replace an old bridge over the Hackensack River that creates a chokepoint for trains moving around New Jersey and in and out of New York City.
After a bruising fight over the megabill this week that Booker strongly opposes, he sounded a bipartisan note about the bridge. President Donald Trump green-lit the bridge during his first administration after lobbying from Gov. Phil Murphy and it's since gotten billions of dollars in federal money.
'I didn't stop and ask one hardhat whether they voted for me or not, whether they voted for which party or not,' Booker said following a tour of the construction site. 'This is about Americans working together to get great things done, to build projects that serve all of America.'
The bridge is expected to be finished in fall 2027 with one track in service in 2026. — Ry Rivard
DEP MULLS COASTAL RULES CHANGE — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: The Murphy administration is reconsidering parts of the sprawling package of coastal building rules meant to cope with rising sea levels.
It's unclear what amendments the Department of Environmental Protection might make, but Commissioner Shawn LaTourette has publicly shown he's open to changes. At a recent public event, he said he was 'not allergic' to amendments. Lobbyists on both sides of the issue are now expecting a new draft of the rules.
One of the biggest flashpoints is the assumed amount of sea level rise that developers should prepare for. The original draft rule assumes, using scientists' projections, that sea levels will rise by 5 feet by the end of the century — a major threat to development and tourism along the state's 130 miles or so of coastline.
That concerns environmental groups supporting the rule, including the state chapter of the Sierra Club and the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. Advocates from both groups are worried that revising the rule could delay its final adoption. Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and leaves office in January. 'We are concerned because the clock is ticking,' said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, the state Sierra Club director.
Ray Cantor, a representative of the Business and Industry Association, has helped organize opposition to the rule package, including a plane that flew over the Jersey Shore last summer carrying a sign that warned about the rule. He's also waiting to see what the DEP does. 'Until we know what they are going to do, our concerns remain,' he said.
PORTAL NORTH SETTLEMENT — NJ Transit paid $450,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a former engineer who alleged he was fired for raising concerns about the design of the Portal North bridge, the most expensive project in the transit agency's history. Mohammed Nasin, who was the chief of construction management for the rail bridge, alleged in an early 2024 lawsuit that he'd found design defects, including track settlement issues.
The settlement happened earlier this year, on Jan. 22, but was below the threshold that requires NJ Transit board approval. It was, however, disclosed to lawmakers in May after Sen. Michael Testa, a Cumberland County Republican, asked about the litigation during back and forths over the budget. In a written response to Testa, NJ Transit revealed the settlement. The agency said Portal North is 'on time and on budget, with Amtrak scheduled to take over construction of track, catenary and other systems in the coming months. The bridge project is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2027. The Portal Bridge project has an excellent safety record.'
John Chartier, an NJ Transit spokesperson, said in an email to POLITICO that the $450,000 included back pay and attorneys' fees. 'There was no admission of liability by NJ Transit and there was a confidentiality clause in the settlement,' he said.
An attorney for Nasim, Paula Dillon, declined to comment. — Ry Rivard
RATE HIKE PROPOSED — POLITICO's Marie J. French: Two major upstate gas and electric utilities owned by Avangrid want to raise customer bills more than 20 percent.
New York State Electric and Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric filed their rate proposals on Monday, arguing they need to recover costs for storm recovery, unpaid bills and compliance with new in-state call center requirements.
NYSEG serves nearly 1 million electricity customers and 270,000 gas customers. RG&E serves 386,000 electricity customers and 320,000 natural gas customers. The two companies are owned by Avangrid, whose parent company is Spanish energy giant Iberdrola.
Utility rate hikes have become a political flashpoint as affordability remains top of mind for policymakers in New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul criticized the rate increase proposals.
The two utilities 'must find a way to avoid these unacceptably high rate hikes,' she said in a statement. 'I am calling on the Department of Public Service to scrutinize these proposals to ensure these companies have the resources to keep our energy grid going but are not making additional profit off the backs of ratepayers.'
BUDGET BASH — A pair of New Jersey Senate Democrats offered modest criticism of the state budget's diversion of $190 million from the Board of Public Utilities' clean energy fund to prop up NJ Transit and the state budget surplus.
Sen. Andrew Zwicker gave a brief floor speech about the diversion before his chamber approved the $58.8 billion budget deal on Monday afternoon, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed late Monday night. Zwicker said he understood the move but that the state needs to use the clean energy money to help get clean air, clean water and better energy prices.
'It is critically important that we make those investments moving forward,' Zwicker said.
In an interview, Sen. Bob Smith, who chairs the Senate's energy committee, said there is a 'tenuous connection' between clean energy funding and NJ Transit, since getting cars off the road is good for the environment.
But that connection, Smith said, is 'not as strong as building new energy storage or building windmills or making our grid more flexible.'
The senators were not alone or loudest to lament term-limited Murphy's final budget. Environmental groups also criticized the clean energy fund transfers, and both the attorney general and state comptroller, two members of Murphy's own Cabinet, slammed other non-environmental aspects of the budget.
At a BPU meeting on Monday afternoon, none of the four members ventured to justify the money being taken from their budget, but they also did not criticize it.
'This budget is reflecting an additional diversion from the clean energy fund, but it is not reflecting a cutting of programs,' board President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said in the entity's sole remark about the budget deal. — Ry Rivard
A BRIGHT SPOT — Both chambers have passed a bill to ease permitting of solar projects (S4100/A5264). 'We should put people over paperwork so we can get more solar on our rooftops and more savings for ratepayers in our wallets — that's a win for our environment, our electric grid and for all of us,' Sen. John McKeon, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Smith also said that both houses have passed legislation to provide $60 million to help with battery storage projects. That bill comes after a recently-approved BPU battery storage program that is funded with $125 million in money from the settlement with Orsted, the energy company that canceled a pair of offshore wind farms in the state. — Ry Rivard