Misguided and politically-motivated actions to ban natural gas use put lives at risk, increase consumer costs, and impede environmental progress.

Following on the actions of New York City, New York State is pursuing policies to ban natural gas hookups in new buildings across the state in order to purportedly “make real progress on climate change.”

“Policies that eliminate affordable energy opportunities for consumers, like New York State’s proposed natural gas hookup ban, are unrealistic and pose a danger to our national security.” MSC President Dave Callahan told the Delaware Valley Journal.

Not only does the Empire State’s initiative run counter to what homeowners, business owners and builders actually prefer, but an overreliance on renewable resources without having baseload electric generation from natural gas will cause reliability challenges that would likely lead to rolling blackouts and even cause spikes in emissions as other electric power generators are called on in emergencies.

This is not the first action by New York State to impose unruly policies against natural gas. In fact, for the better part of a decade, New York has denied millions of Americans the benefits of clean, abundant and affordable energy provided natural gas.

Here’s a closer look:

  • November 2021: NY Dep. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) rejects two modern, efficient natural gas peaking plants that would reduce air pollution and emissions, while increasing energy resilience and reliability.
  • February 2021: NY joins other regional states in banning “high-volume hydraulic fracturing” in the Delaware River Basin, threatening job and energy security, economic growth, and robbing landowners billions of dollars-worth of natural gas.
  • May 2020: NY DEC denies a key permit for the Northeast Supply Enhancement project, which would have supplied Northeastern consumers with reliable access to 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day — enough to serve 3 million homes.
  • April 2020: NY State permanently bans hydraulic fracturing, as is codified in the state budget.
  • January 2020: NYC enacts ban to all new fossil fuel infrastructure, including natural gas pipelines.
  • 2019: Frequent delays to National Fuel Gas’ Northern Access Pipeline cost New York $1.6 billion in GDP, more than 10,000 jobs, and $400 million in state and local tax revenue.
  • December 2014: Former Governor Andrew Cuomo announces plan to ban fracking in the state, immediately wiping out 191,841 job opportunities.

As a result, New England consumers have paid the price because they have been excluded from domestic natural gas. As proof, a 2021 Carnegie Mellon University study found that Natural gas supply constraints have cost New York and New Englanders upwards of $1.8 billion in just one month.

Rather than sourcing natural gas from U.S. producers, the region has imported Russian-produced natural gas to keep the heat and lights on during peak winter demand months. The choices are stark – either source natural gas from the U.S., which has the strictest environmental regulatory policies of any energy producing nation and provides good-paying jobs for American workers, or alternatively source from Russia, who’s environmental record is suspect.

Some of the solutions to electric grid challenges that New York is seeking to address in draconian fashion, and at the expense and threat to consumers, could be addressed by following the example of the PJM Interconnection – the regional grid operator in which Pennsylvania operates. Natural gas makes up 44% of PJM’s total capacity, per its 2021 reliability report, and there are no foreseeable reliability challenges. Moreover, PJM’s power generator emissions (including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide) declined 11% from 2019 levels.

With these facts in mind, and the pocketbook issues many consumers are facing, “to ban natural gas to heat your homes and businesses…It’s a fool’s errand,” as stated by Pa. State Senator Dan Laughlin (R-49th).

And as MSC’s own Dave Callahan said, “if New York is truly serious about addressing climate matters and ensuring around-the-clock affordable power, the state should pursue policies that preserve energy choice and encourage natural gas generation.”