Brooklyn, NY – Today, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon released the following statement in response to the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) vote in support of National Grid’s long-term gas plan, including the Williams NESE pipeline: 

“The PSC’s last-minute approval of the NESE pipeline is a stunning betrayal to New Yorkers. They have sided with the fossil fuel industry at the expense of New Yorkers’ wallets, health, and future. This decision locks us into decades of expensive, polluting pipelines, with the costs passed onto ratepayers who are already struggling to pay their utility bills. 

Since the DEC’s 2018 and 2019 denial of a Water Quality Certificate, nothing has changed about the harm this pipeline would cause to our environment, except for Donald Trump’s election. The NESE pipeline is environmentally reckless and financially irresponsible. National Grid will not be doing this on its own dime. Williams, an energy infrastructure company based in Oklahoma, would construct the pipeline and sell the fracked gas to National Grid, which will pass those costs to New York ratepayers in the form of increased ‘delivery charges.’

Governor Hochul, people are clamoring for affordability. Please don’t force New Yorkers to pay for more dirty infrastructure that will soon be obsolete. It’s time to drive a stake into the heart of this monster of a pipeline.”