New York needs to build energy that works

Dear Editor,

New Yorkers don’t need another lecture about what our energy system should look like in 2030. They need heat that works in a winter storm, electricity that holds during a summer heat wave, and utility bills that don’t spike because the system is running out of supply. Last week’s blizzard left hundreds of thousands across the Northeast without power — a reminder that reliability is not a theory.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is right to adopt an all-of-the-above approach to energy policy — one that keeps New York moving toward cleaner power while also facing a basic reality: affordability and reliability are not optional. When families can’t pay their bills or the grid is at risk, the consequences are immediate.

That is why labor supports expanding pipeline capacity in New York, including the Constitution Pipeline.

This is not complicated. When demand surges in cold weather, prices jump if supply can’t reach where it’s needed. We saw it during Winter Storm Fern. With gas deliverability constrained at the worst moment, the region leaned harder on dirtier backup fuels to keep the system running. During Fern, New England’s power system ramped up oil-fired generation to nearly 8 gigawatts because cleaner fuel could not get where it needed to go fast enough. When supply is tight at peak demand, working families pay for it — in higher costs and higher emissions.

The Constitution Pipeline is a straightforward response. It would increase supply into a region that is constrained and that would apply downward pressure on winter price spikes. It would also strengthen the system on the days that matter most, when being short can become a safety issue.

Here’s another point too often missing from this debate: increasing natural gas capacity in the Northeast will actually reduce emissions. Constitution is not a rejection of climate goals. It is a way to deliver near-term progress by reducing reliance on the dirtiest fuels during peak winter conditions, while New York continues building the grid of the future.

Renewables are essential, and we should keep building them. But the system must still work during the transition. Wind and solar do not eliminate the need for firm, dispatchable supply; they make it more urgent. The grid must balance variability in real time.

When gas can’t get where it’s needed, the system turns to dirtier fuels like oil — driving up emissions and worsening air pollution.

We’re already hearing two predictable arguments against the project. First: “Just build renewables.” We agree — build them. But permitting, transmission and federal headwinds are slowing projects New York is counting on. Responsible leaders have to deal with the system we have, not only the system we want.

Second: “Electrification is the answer.” Electrification is part of the answer, but it is only as reliable and as clean as the grid behind it. And if the grid is strained and leaning on fossil generation during peaks, you haven’t solved emissions — you’ve shifted them.

Labor supports Constitution because it is work New Yorkers can do and because the benefits land where policy should live: in working households. These projects mean good-paying union jobs and steady work for skilled trades. They also mean a stronger energy system and fewer moments when families are hit with punishing bills or the region is forced onto dirtier backup fuels.

New Yorkers don’t need perfection. They need a plan that works — in real life, in real weather, at real prices. Constitution fits that strategy, and it deserves support.

Edward Nadeau is the President of the 25,000-member New York State Pipe Trades Association and the Business Manager for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 7 in Latham, New York.