Cuomo Delivers: New York Electricity Prices 44% Higher Than U.S.

Jim Willis
Editor & Publisher, Marcellus Drilling News (MDN)

 

New York electricity prices are now 26% higher than Pennsylvania’s and 44% higher than the U.S. average according to the Energy Information Administration.

New York residents, on average, pay 44% more for electricity than other states, 26% more than neighboring Pennsylvania and 40% more than Ohio. In January of this year, New Yorkers (and New York utility companies) were briefly forced to pay a record high of $140.25 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for natural gas, as opposed to what everyone else was paying (an average of $3.08/Mcf)—which is 46 times as much!

New York electricity prices reach for the Moon!

Both stats are rooted in the same issue: New York pays way more for energy than it has to, because Andrew Cuomo is blocking natural gas pipelines into the state from Pennsylvania. So says a new report titled “Pipelines and their Benefits to New York” (full copy below).

The report, published by the Consumer Energy Alliance, examines the benefits of pipelines to New York, highlighting the need for affordable energy supplies to keep the daily lives of families and businesses across New York moving. Without those pipelines, we’re toast. You can’t build windmills and solar farms fast enough to meet the demand for electricity and, by extension, natural gas. Cuomo’s dysfunctional energy policies are blocking all New Yorkers, upstate and downstate, from living even moderately prosperous lives.

Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) today released a report titled “Pipelines and their Benefits to New York” at a breakfast discussion on the Future of Natural Gas and Economic Development in New York, hosted by New Yorkers for Affordable Energy. Faced with a new everyday reality of energy insecurity for many in the U.S., CEA’s report examines the benefits of pipelines to New York – specifically highlighting the need for affordable energy supplies to keep the daily lives of families and businesses across New York moving.

CEA’s report examines the benefits of pipelines, and the availability of fuels like natural gas, outside of the traditional scope of jobs and economic growth. That’s because CEA believes the benefits of pipelines should also be examined for their cost reductions and the critical service the energy they transport provides to New York’s families, small businesses and households – especially people living on the margins of society or even paycheck-to-paycheck.

Highlights from the report include:

• Consumers and households in New York already pay 44 percent more for electricity than the national average – even though neighboring Pennsylvania has ample supplies of energy and pipeline infrastructure available to benefit New Yorkers.
• In January 2018, spot market prices in the New York City region jumped to a record high of $140.25 for natural gas, as compared to the average natural gas spot market price for New York in 2017 was $3.08. New Yorkers were subjected to prices that were $137 higher due to self-inflicted capacity constraints created by their own elected officials.
• In New York, natural gas alone provides nearly 46 percent of the state’s electricity needs. As the state continues to rely more and more on natural gas and building or expanding gas-fired power plants, that number is expected to rise to 56 percent of New York’s electric needs.
• 74 percent of energy generation for downstate residents is provided by fossil fuels – and natural gas is used by more than half of all New Yorkers to heat their homes.
• Natural gas is the foundational building block for the state’s manufacturing sector. New York had over 194,400 jobs that were tied to energy-intensive companies and made up nearly 55 percent of the state’s manufacturing sector.
• There is a significant economic impact to New York from the numerous denied, delayed and proposed pipeline projects in the state.

“This report highlights the often-overlooked benefits New York’s communities are receiving because of the U.S. energy revolution, enhanced infrastructure, and pipelines,” Mike Butler, CEA’s Mid-Atlantic Director, said. “However, New York families, businesses, and households will not be able to realize the full potential of these benefits until natural gas plays a larger role in the state to offset intermittency issues and the physical realities of the state’s electric grid.”

“We believe in a balanced, constructive, all-of-the-above energy policy that utilizes all of our resources – conventional and renewable. CEA continues to urge policymakers in New York to embrace the benefits and growth potential that energy delivery brings to communities across the state. Everyone from working mothers trying to pay their bills, to small retailers who spend a large percentage of their revenue on electricity and meet their bottom lines – we all have a stake in making sure we meet our energy needs and it should be a top priority for our policymakers to ensure we do.”

Click image to read full report

Editor’s Note: We thank the Consumer Energy Alliance for using two of our NaturalGasNOW charts in their report. The Consumer Energy Alliance is a great organization. It’s also great to see the message getting out; New York electricity prices are too damned high, as Vic Furman says.

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