The Constitution gas pipeline won’t solve New England’s energy problems
- waterfallunityalli
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
Published: 08/22/25
EPA chief Lee Zeldin claims the proposed pipeline into New York would make New England power cheaper and more reliable. Just about everyone says he’s wrong.
Building a new natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York would not make electricity in New England more affordable or reliable, experts say, despite the Trump administration’s push to revive a project that stalled out years ago.
Environmental advocates object to the construction of more gas infrastructure at a time when much of New England is trying to wean itself off fossil fuels, but there are economic concerns as well. Industry insiders say the proposed Constitution pipeline would do little to get more gas to New England power plants and could raise costs for both generators and consumers.
The major problem is that the pipeline wouldn’t actually bring much, if any, new gas into New England, Dolan said. The Constitution pipeline would terminate in Schoharie County, New York, where it would connect to pipes that already carry gas into New England. That existing infrastructure is the true bottleneck, he said.
The pipes into and around New England are “narrow and limited,” so bringing a higher volume of gas into New York doesn’t mean more can flow throughout the neighboring region. There are no plans in the works to alleviate those constraints, and the models for funding such projects make it highly unlikely there will be any proposals for pipelines into or within New England in the near future, Dolan said.
“I am not aware of any large-scale gas supply projects into New England today,” he said. “Until there is a way to increase that, I struggle to see how Constitution changes anything meaningful for us.”
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