Hochul’s PSC Embraces Trump’s Energy Policy with Approval of National Grid Plan that Includes Williams NESE Pipeline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, September 18, 2025

Hochul’s PSC Embraces Trump’s Energy Policy with Approval of National Grid Plan that Includes Williams NESE Pipeline

Thousands of New Yorkers are calling on Hochul to build 15GW of public renewables to lower electric bills and reject expensive fracked gas pipelines

Albany, New York- 4,638 New Yorkers, including Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, submitted public comments over the last 45 days calling on Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build at least 15 gigawatts (GW) of public renewables to lower electric bills, but instead Hochul’s Public Service Commission (PSC) today embraced President Donald Trump’s energy policy and laid the groundwork for approval of an expensive and polluting fracked gas pipeline.

The PSC approved for-profit utility National Grid’s energy plan, which includes the Williams NESE Pipeline. The widely opposed pipeline that would bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and the New York Harbor into New York still needs permit approval from the Department of Environmental Conservation before construction can begin.

The Public Power NY Coalition released the following statement:

“The Trump-Hochul pipeline is proof that when it comes to our wallets and future, Kathy Hochul is eager to do Donald Trump’s bidding in New York. The biggest step backwards for New York’s climate in at least a decade is just the latest in Hochul’s multi-year assault on our air and lungs: from fighting tooth and nail to block and sabotage all major climate legislation, to appointing Justin Driscoll, a Republican fossil fuel lobbyist more interested in making New Yorkers fund his 42 private jet trips than lowering our bills with renewables, in charge of the state’s historic public renewables buildout. This decision is a signal to the world: when it comes to our energy and planet, Kathy Hochul is building Donald Trump’s future.”

After a powerful, four year-long campaign, New Yorkers won the most transformational climate and green jobs bill in the nation in May 2023 with the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA) which authorizes NYPA to build and own renewable energy projects, and eliminates the need for more fracked gas usage.

Under the leadership of CEO Justin Drsicoll, NYPA’s initial plan to implement the BPRA proposed a paltry 3.3GW of renewable energy with very few projects planned for the Hudson Valley and downstate New York, where electricity demand is greatest. Following massive public outcry, NYPA announced it will double the amount of projects it plans to build from 3.3 GW to 7GW. But at least 15GW of public renewables by 2030 is necessary for New York to meet the legally mandated goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

LoHud broke news this week that Driscoll has been extensively using NYPA’s private plane to make short trips from White Plains to Albany. NYPA has a history of being used as a slush fund for vanity projects instead of serving the people of New York.

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Note to the editor:

About Public Power NY

Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.