Con Edison’s Pipeline Expansion Deal Could End Gas Connection Moratorium in 2023

The Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. on April 24 announced an agreement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company LLC to boost the capacity in its existing pipeline that connects the utility’s distribution system to Westchester County. The utility said that the expansion could be in service by November 2023, providing the capacity needed to lift the moratorium on new gas hookups.

Con Edison announced in January that it will stop enrolling new gas customers in the Westchester County region from March 15, in order to maintain reliability for existing customers and offer service to critical facilities. Since the announcement and the start of the moratorium on March 16, the utility received 1,600 applications for firm gas service in the area.

The utility said that the agreement supplements existing natural gas capacity without the construction of a new pipeline. Tennessee Gas will provide the capacity by upgrading compression facilities on its system outside of the state, enhancing the capability of the existing pipelines to transport additional natural gas supplies for Con Edison.

Con Edison’s reliance on delivered services – purchase of pipeline capacity controlled by other shippers – has been on the rise, constituting 17 percent of its supply portfolio, and expected to reach 22 percent by 2023, absent the addition of firm pipeline capacity or significant demand reduction. Part of the growing demand is attributed to businesses and residents switching from higher-emitting heating oil to natural gas.

The New York Public Service Commission announced in January that it will conduct an analysis of the changing market conditions that led to Con Edison’s decision and also review how utilities across the state are meeting customer needs in a manner that is consistent with the state’s energy goals.

The Business Council of Westchester, an economic development and advocacy organization, said the agreement offered a “offered a ray of hope for our increasingly energy-starved region,” but expressed concern that it will take at least four and a half years for the service to come online. The council formed a task force in March to come up with short- and long-term solutions to the natural gas supply shortage problem in Westchester.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc. Tennessee Gas Pipeline is a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Inc.