Should Williams Companies be successful in its second attempt to build the Constitution Pipeline from Susquehanna County Pennsylvania to Schoharie County New York, many landowners along this interstate route of 125 miles will be unhappy at having been coerced or forced into accepting construction of a 30” pipeline across their property. Under the National Gas Act of 1938, private companies are to be granted the power of eminent domain only where a project would be in the public convenience and necessity. Is that the case for Constitution?
Certainly, the producers of the gas in Pennsylvania will be happy to connect to the Northeast with another market for their gas. However, is increasing their profits a public convenience and necessity?
Perhaps the required PC&N would come at the other end, but specifics are lacking. Williams has signed a capacity-lease agreement to ship all the gas into the Iroquois Pipeline at Wright, New York. From there, the map on its project fact sheet shows the gas flowing outward north, south, east, and west. However, no destinations have been revealed. Unlikely that much will flow south. By the end of the decade, three expansion projects on existing pipelines could deliver another billion cubic feet per day of gas to the NYC Metro region, increasing supply by one-third. One of those projects is Williams’ NESE on its Transco Pipeline. Where is the public convenience and necessity for Constitution downstate?
Another place in New York that is unlikely to see gas is our Delaware County. At first, the original version of Constitution lacked any local distribution along the route. Then after fierce local opposition, Williams entered into an agreement with Leatherstocking Gas Company of Montrose, Pennsylvania, for four taps. One was to serve Sidney, and in discussion was another to serve Delhi/Fraser. Perhaps Williams hoped that these local benefits would make Albany more forgiving of its project’s burdens. However, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the project anyway. After years of legal wrangling over this rejection, Williams cancelled its project in 2020. Today in its second attempt, Williams is trying to go around DEC, and local distribution has not been included in the current proposal. Is Constitution Pipeline in our convenience and necessity?
Brian Brock
Franklin
