New York City Natural Gas Use Up Everywhere: Time for the Big Apple Relief Valve

Tom Shepstone
Shepstone Management Company, Inc.

New York City natural gas use is way up, with more homes using it than ever before. The City needs more and there’s a pipeline that will help them and us.

Earlier this month I noted New York City natural gas use is on the rise and there are plenty of housing projects there that could benefit by access to more natural gas. That’s natural gas we can provide to them. We get economic development. They get inexpensive heating fuel that dramatically improves their air quality as emissions are lowered across the board by substituting gas for oil. That same gas also serves to cleanly produce electricity for not only heating homes but also powering electric cars and the technology that makes urban life possible. The only question is how to get more gas to the City. Fortunately, there’s an answer.

The answer in this case is the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project—a thoroughly boring name for an exciting project—that will give New York City a new way to access Marcellus Shale and other natural gas sources. Before delving into that answer, though, it’s worth taking a look at the simple facts of New York City natural gas use, which are really quite astounding.

The American Community Survey, conducted annually by the U.S. Census, provides a way to measure how New York City natural gas use has accelerated in recent years. Data from 2009 through 2016 indicates dramatic changes. Here, for example, is how New York City natural gas use has increased by county for the five counties (a/k/a Boroughs) that constitute the City, as measured by the number of homes relying upon utility gas for heat:

The number New York City natural gas heated homes increased by a range of 2% in Staten Island, where almost everyone already uses the stuff, up to 30% in the Bronx, where all those housing projects needing new furnaces are located. Overall, the number of New York City natural gas heated homes grew by 18% in just seven years.

That was due in large part to the City’s program to convert from heavy oil to natural gas, which caused air emissions and asthma rates to plunge in the same manner as Atlantic City’s famous diving horse. The availability of inexpensive Marcellus Shale gas next door was also a big factor, of course, and it gave high-taxed New Yorkers (and Garden Staters) a huge effective tax cut.

That natural gas we’re selling City folks is helping us at the same time, of course, with wages and every other measure of economic development in Susquehanna County, for instance, showing great gains. Better yet, there’s room to grow. Here’s how New York City natural gas use as home heating fuel stacked up in 2016:

Natural gas use for home heating fuel is already near the top for the nation in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, but look at how much more natural gas could be consumed in the Bronx and Manhattan, if only we can get it them. Which brings us back to the Northeast Supply Enhancement project, about which we sent out an e-mail blast yesterday encouraging our followers to demonstrate their support for this project, which will help both us and them, by signing a letter to FERC.

Yes, New York City is using more gas than ever and we want to supply it to them, which is what the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project is all about. It’s important to us and them even if they don’t realize it, so sign up:

The lack of pipeline capacity in the northeast has prevented consumers from fully realizing the advantages of affordable, reliable and clean Marcellus Shale natural gas that supports our economy, heats their homes and cleans their air. The Northeast Supply Enhancement project, which might better be called the Big Apple Relief Valve by the way, will help solve this problem by adding much needed pipeline capacity, providing domestically produced and environmentally responsible energy for up to 2.3 million homes and businesses while creating economic development for both us and them.

Northeast Supply Enhancement will also:

• Increases service to National Grid and its customers;
• Provide reliable supply of economical natural gas;
• Continue to help NYC meet its clean air goals;
• Create jobs for local laborers;
• Creates economic development in Pennsylvania
• Drive millions of dollars in new wages;
• Has the potential to displace nearly 16 million tons of CO2 annually – the equivalent of removing 3 million passenger cars from the roadways – annually.

These benefits can only be realized if NESE (the Big Apple Relief Valve) continues to move forward, and for that to happen, your help, whether you live in the Brooklyn, Pennsylvania (heart of Marcellus Shale territory in Susquehanna County) or Brooklyn, New York, is crucial. Click the button below to support this critical project.

Now is the time to tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) you support the Northeast Supply Enhance project. This critical piece of energy infrastructure will increase pipeline capacity and connect abundant, reliable, affordable and clean Marcellus natural gas with markets that desperately need it. You can also share your support by attending and providing comment at a FERC public hearing. Click below to get more details on the hearings:

• Wednesday, April 25 – Old Bridge, NJ 
• Thursday, April 26 – Brooklyn, NY
• Wednesday, May 2 – Somerset, NJ
• Thursday, May 3 – Quarryville, PA

Please do something to support this key piece of energy infrastructure; it matters here and it matters there.