Empire Offshore Wind Project Back On, Pipeline Still Mothballed

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Now that New York Governor Kathy Hochul has convinced the White House to lift a stop-work order on the massive Empire Wind offshore wind project, energy and policy observers are linking the negotiations to the revival of the proposed Constitution natural gas pipeline. That may be so, but it remains to be seen who gets the last laugh, Hochul or Trump.

Hochul Wins The Offshore Wind Round …

One reason to question the conventional wisdom on the offshore wind tradeoff is Hochul’s track record with the Trump administration, having successfully fended off at least two attempts to interfere with infrastructure planning in New York.

In one particularly high-profile example, Hochul has defied the administration’s order to roll back the newly installed congestion pricing system in lower Manhattan. The administration set one deadline for the cameras to be turned off, then another. The system is still up and running after the latest deadline passed on May 21.

Hochul also turned the tables on the administration earlier this year, when the Department of Transportation seized control of renovation plans for the Penn Station railway hub in Midtown.

New York had budgeted $1.2 billion of its own money for the renovations, but apparently now the state can put that money to good use elsewhere. In a public statement on May 23, Hochul also noted that the White House tapped the experienced transit executive Andy Byford — formerly New York’s “Train Daddy” — to helm the the renovation project.

“[I] hope he is able to use these skills to deliver a beautiful, on-time, federally funded Penn Station renovation that New Yorkers can be proud of,” Hochul stated, reminding everyone that the Trump administration swooped in and took over the Penn Station plans, freeing up $1.2 billion in state funds.

… But What About That Pipeline?

If the offshore wind feud between Hochul and Trump follows the same pattern, Empire Wind will begin pumping out clean kilowatts in 2027 just as planned. Meanwhile, the Constitution Pipeline proposal will encounter some obstacles along the way.

The Constitution project was first proposed during the Obama administration under the umbrella of the leading US gas infrastructure firm Williams. The proposed pipeline would connect gas systems in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna County to markets in New York and New England, involving a substantial amount of related infrastructure along the way.

In a pipeline project fact sheet issued in 2014, Williams cited a construction timeline of just 10 months, with tree-cutting to begin as early as 2015. That, of course, met with vigorous opposition from local residents and environmental organizations. In 2016, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also denied a permit for the pipeline, largely due to concerns over water resource impacts. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission affirmed that decision in 2018, and Williams finally withdrew the permit application in 2020.

“Sorry, Trump Can’t Save This Pipeline”

The energy policy environment has certainly shifted under Trump’s second term, but the community opposition remains, creating new political headaches for Hochul in her home state — if the pipeline is revived, that is.

The energy analysis firm East Daley Analytics has spotted more than a few reasons why that is unlikely. If they are correct, Hochul’s offshore wind bet will be a solid win for renewable energy.

“East Daley sees many challenges ahead,” noted East Daley analyst Zach Krause on April 30. “For one, several of the original project backers have changed hands, including Cabot Oil & Gas (now part of Coterra Energy (CTRA)) and Duke Energy, which sold its midstream assets to Enbridge (ENB).”

“Williams may need to start from scratch finding customers if the new owners have lost interest,” Krause summarizes.

Krause also notes that the New England angle will be a tough row to hoe, as the existing pipelines are already operating near capacity. “These pipelines would need to coordinate additional expansions to efficiently route the additional gas to New England markets,” he observes.

Pipelines And Offshore Wind At The Crossroads

Williams is a huge company, describing itself as handling “approximately one third of the natural gas in the United States.” With that in mind, Krause also draws attention to opportunities for Williams to pick off some low-hanging gas infrastructure fruit elsewhere around the country before embarking on a high-profile project in the Northeast that is sure to draw unwanted attention to itself.

Williams is not about to venture into the offshore wind field, but the company has been burnishing its green credentials with a series of solar energy projects aimed at reducing emissions associated with its sprawling infrastructure.

By 2021, Williams was already counting plans for 375 megawatts in solar energy spread among 16 of its facilities. An undated recap of the solar program lists Williams facilities in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia under consideration for solar development.

That’s no small potatoes, but Williams is still laser-focused on its gas business. As described by Krause, the firm already has a backlog of lower-risk projects under its belt. He questions why Williams would place a bet on a high-risk project in the Northeast at this time, especially when rich opportunities beckon along the Gulf Coast.

Why, indeed? Back in March the White House let word slip that discussions were underway with Hochul to raise the Constitution Pipeline from its own ashes. Multiple news organizations reported Williams’s response. “We are interested in building the Constitution pipeline, provided there is sufficient customer demand and support from Northeast governors, including Governor Hochul, to mitigate the risk of costly permitting delays, court battles, and injunctions during construction,” the company stated.

The key word here is “mitigate,” which is not the same as eliminate. Evidently, Williams foresees some degree of risk in the project, regardless of governor-level support.

Aside from political risks, climate risks are also operative. Back in 2019, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an advisory to gas and hazardous liquid operators around the country on “the potential for damage to pipeline facilities caused by earth movement from both landslides and subsidence in variable, steep, and rugged terrain and for varied geological conditions.”

“These conditions can pose a threat to the integrity of pipeline facilities if those threats are not identified and mitigated,” PHMSA warned, listing a series of specific incidents linked to flood damage and subsidence.

Meanwhile, if all goes according to plan, Hochul’s handling of the Empire Wind offshore wind dust-up could serve as a model for other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states with offshore wind projects in the works.

When Trump summarily suspended the offshore wind lease program upon taking office in January, Empire and other projects that already had their permits secured were supposedly safe. That turned out to be fake news. The US EPA demonstrated as much when it snatched away the “final” permit for New Jersey’s Atlantic Shores wind project in March. The Interior Department followed up with a stop-work order for Empire Wind in April. That didn’t last long. Perhaps if New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy plays the gas pipeline card, EPA will change its tune.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin may also want to take note as construction continues on the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project. Although Virginia is already host to the controversial new Mountain Valley gas pipeline, the developer filed plans for an extension into North Carolina earlier this year.

Image (cropped): Work has restarted on New York State’s Empire Wind offshore wind project while the high profile Constitution gas pipeline proposal remains mothballed, for now (courtesy of Equinor).