By JACK DELANEY | jdelaney@queensledger.com
A small group of local climate advocates have been facing off against one of the biggest utility companies in the country, National Grid, in a case that could shape Greenpoint’s landscape for years to come — and make or break New York’s transition to renewables. But with a key deadline approaching, the activists say they’ve been cut off from critical information.
The focal point of the case? There are two, and you can see them clearly from the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge: a pair of enormous white tanks. They rise from a spacious lot, imposing but nondescript compared to the chrome domes of the nearby Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The tanks are part of the Greenpoint Energy Center, the largest fossil fuel depot in the state by acreage. Owned by the UK-based corporation National Grid, the facility’s main function is to hold fracked gas, which is cooled below 200ºF to transform it into the easier-to-store liquified natural gas (LNG). And it has become the subject of a protracted legal proceeding that could set the tone for statewide efforts to realize New York’s ambitious climate goals.
A local environmental advocacy group, Sane Energy Project, has long pushed to decommission the site, arguing that gas stored there isn’t utilized and that earmarking more funds to upgrade the facility would violate the timeline for decarbonization outlined in the landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).
“If we’re continuing to facilitate throwing money into the gas system,” said Kim Fraczek, founder of Sane Energy Project, “we’re just never going to reach our goals.”
National Grid, for its part, has campaigned for expansion: in recent years, it has repeatedly applied to build new vaporizers, which it says would “allow the facility to deliver its current annual capacity at a faster rate to meet demand.” It has also asserted that the gas is a contingency for extreme weather.
Sane Energy Project and National Grid are now locked in a fierce battle over the future of the Greenpoint Energy Center. The arena is a legal case within New York’s Public Service Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities.
The stakes are high. As Columbia University’s Alice Finno noted last November, “this regulatory proceeding with the Commission marks the first time National Grid has had to publicly outline in a long-term plan how it will meet New York’s energy demands and comply with safety standards and clean energy goals.”
In the wider view, the regulator’s decision regarding National Grid’s operations in Greenpoint “could set up a blueprint for the state’s energy system,” explained Finno, “and potentially become an example for gas utilities across the United States.”
The latest skirmish hinges upon PA Consulting Group, an independent monitor whose role in the proceeding is to verify National Grid’s claims — most importantly, whether it needs to maintain the Greenpoint Energy Center to satisfy energy demand.
In a separate proceeding, the monitor had previously determined that the company’s proposal for vaporizers was not supported by adequate evidence. Yet its latest report backed the assertion that the LNG held in Greenpoint was necessary.
With the deadline for submitting comments on National Grid’s bid to expand its facility fast approaching, Sane Energy Project filed several information requests in early February to clarify the methodology behind PA Consulting’s findings.
However, the monitor did not respond. Sane Energy’s latest motion alleges that “after months of open communication among National Grid, Sane and other stakeholders, and [New York Department of Public Service] Staff as well as its consultant, PA Consulting, Staff abruptly cut off information sharing at a critical part of the proceeding — one week before comments were due.”
A representative for National Grid could not be reached before this issue went to press, but the company has previously stated that the Greenpoint Energy Center “is a crucial part of our operations and indispensable to provide heat to nearly 2 million New York households.”
You can read Sane Energy Project’s full motion here.