Building the Constitution Pipeline is vital for New England’s grid stability

The region pays a premium for energy. New York’s pipeline veto is to blame.

August 5, 2025

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EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

By EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin  

For more than a decade, New England residents watched as New York governor Andrew Cuomo reduced their energy supply options and increased energy costs across the region.

First, Cuomo codified a de facto ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York state in 2015, reducing supply in the energy market.

New England residents now pay a premium for foreign energy supplies instead.

At any given hour, New England relies on natural gas to meet about 60 percent, and at times up to 80 percent, of its electricity and home heating needs.

New England imports most of that natural gas from Canada, and it imports liquified natural gas from as far away as Trinidad and Tobago and Algeria. Transporting energy from other countries drives up the cost of electricity and home heating here in the United States.

How did we get here?

In 2012, the Constitution Pipeline was first proposed to relieve supply constraints in the Northeast and reduce high energy costs for New England families. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved it in 2014.

But in 2016, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied pipeline developer Williams Cos. a water quality certification under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which the statute places largely under the purview of states.

After much legal wrangling, in 2020, Williams Cos. abandoned the critical infrastructure project.

Cuomo and his allies argued pipeline would stymie renewable energy development in New York. This was an overreach of statutory power.

Perhaps ironically, New York relies on natural gas imports to meet nearly 85 percent of its own power demand — with renewables generating a bit more than 10 percent of the state’s electricity.

New England has become a casualty of New York’s decisions. The siren song of climate zealots has derailed American infrastructure projects. And residents pay the price, literally. It’s time to build the Constitution Pipeline. 

Massachusetts consumes much more electricity than it generates. Though the state runs on the cheapest source of baseload power — natural gas — it had the third-highest residential electricity prices in the nation in 2023, in large part because of lack of infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Connecticut residents, who also rely on natural gas for electricity generation, pay among the highest electricity bills in the entire lower 48 states, averaging more than $250 monthly compared to the national average of about $185.

Infrastructure constraints have also threatened grid reliability as ISO-NE, the region’s grid operator, scrambles for natural gas to produce reliable affordable and constant supplies of baseload power in an ever-growing market.

The region’s last two operational coal-fired power plants are set to close by 2028 and be replaced with solar power plants and battery storage that can’t provide baseload power during harsh New England winters.

Harsh winters mean high heating bills, which are expected to rise over the next decade without adequate infrastructure.

I have been meeting with communities in all six states that comprise New England, which also represent EPA Region 1. Businesses and industry leaders are optimistic and ready to invest in innovation, manufacturing, and artificial intelligence. But they recognize the need for more power generation and the underlying infrastructure to support it, to support the growth of industry across New England.

Under the Trump administration, the EPA has worked to remove hurdles to critical infrastructure expansion to achieve energy dominance and strengthen national security. Right now, we are working to assess whether it is necessary to clarify the guide rails of states’ abilities under the Clean Water Act Section 401 to deny water quality certification.

The EPA has initiated a public comment period, which includes listening sessions across the country on addressing critical portions of the regulations for the Clean Water Act Section 401 certification process. The agency is committed to ensuring that the scope of state review on pipeline infrastructure is appropriately limited to water quality.

States should not block critical energy infrastructure in the name of climate change, as New York’s former governor did. And states like New York should not have veto authority to dictate energy policy for, and increase energy costs of, other states.

New England should come together to support American energy infrastructure, including the Constitution Pipeline project, to provide much-needed grid stability, create jobs, and reduce energy prices across the region for American families who have suffered long enough.