Hearings on gas pipeline planned in East Greenbush
Proposed conduit would link North Greenbush, Bethlehem
A proposed natural gas pipeline that National Grid says is needed to improve service and reliability has drawn opposition from an environmental group.
The state Public Service Commission will hold two public hearings Wednesday at the East Greenbush Town Park on the proposed Pipeline E37 Reliability and Resiliency Project.
The utility has proposed to build 7.3 miles of a 16-inch natural gas transmission pipeline from the town of Bethlehem in Albany County under the Hudson River to continue in Rensselaer County through the town of East Greenbush. The line would end in the town of North Greenbush.
“We shouldn’t be building fossil fuel infrastructure when the state has a goal of 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Becky Meier of Community Advocates for a Sustainable Environment.
CASE leaders said there was not enough public notification given about the hearings. Meier and Bob Connors said the organization will request more time from the state Public Service Commission so that the group can conduct more in-depth research than has been done since it learned of the pipeline through legal ads about two weeks ago.
CASE, which promotes the use of renewable energy, grew out of a group co-founded by Meier and Connors, Stop NY Fracked Gas Pipeline, which successfully opposed Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Director Gas Pipeline.
The E37 pipeline project connects two existing natural gas pipelines that will improve efficiency and delivery of natural gas, said Patrick Stella, a spokesman for National Grid.
“Our multifaceted approach will reinforce reliability for more than 265,000 eastern New York customers, mitigate regional supply constraints — especially on the coldest days — and help deliver a clean energy future,” according to National Grid.
Stella said the utility sees an annual growth rate of 1 percent in natural gas use. Natural gas demand in National Grid’s eastern New York region is expanding faster than its central and western New York regions, he added.
The utility said it is seeking to improve energy efficiency, get commercial customers to use less natural gas during peak demand periods and develop ways to add renewable gas from alternative sources such as farm waste.
There will be information provided Wednesday about the project at 2 and 6 p.m. followed immediately by hearings to receive public statements at 3 and 7 p.m. The sessions will be held at the Red Barn in East Greenbush Town Park on Town Park Road.