Westchester County Executive George Latimer is hoping to meet with Con Edison officials next week to discuss the impending moratorium on new natural gas connections in most sections of the county.

WHITE PLAINS—Westchester County Executive George Latimer is expected to meet with officials from Con Edison sometime next week to discuss the impending moratorium on new natural gas connections that could impact billions of dollars in new development projects in the county.

Globest.com has learned that a meeting is expected between Latimer and representatives of the utility sometime next week and that the session will likely not be open to the public or the media.

Latimer released a statement yesterday in connection with Con Edison's surprise announcement on Jan. 18 that due to increased demand and the lack of adequate pipeline connections to most of Westchester County to natural gas sources, the utility will impose a moratorium on new natural gas connections for a majority of Westchester County beginning on March 15.

“The demand for natural gas in our service area has been experiencing significant growth primarily due to the construction of new buildings, the opening of new businesses, and conversions from oil to cleaner-burning natural gas in existing buildings.” Con Edison stated, “But all of this new demand for gas is reaching the limits of the current supplies to our service area.”

The utility further stated, “As a result, and to maintain reliable service to our existing natural gas customers on the coldest days, we will no longer be accepting applications for natural gas connections from new customers in most of our Westchester County service area beginning March 15, 2019.”

It is expected that many developers who have proposed major projects in cities such as Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains and in other southern and central Westchester locations, will be scrambling to file natural gas connection applications prior to the start of the moratorium.

In his statement, County Executive Latimer described the planned meeting with Con Edison as more of a fact-finding session to learn the reasons behind the imposition of the natural gas connection moratorium. In the statement, Latimer said hopes to bring in local, state and federal officials to the meeting

“We need to understand what led to this moratorium, how the calculation for gas is made, how many customers exist in each municipality, which slated projects are in jeopardy, which are not, the duration of the moratorium, how that calculation was determined, an overview of the regulatory process, and Con Edison's plan for developing and implementing alternative energy sources,” Latimer said.

He added, “We have many questions, and are expecting Con Edison will be able to shed light on this very serious prediction. We will keep the public abreast of any developments and the outcome of the meeting.”

At press time the Business Council of Westchester was attempting to form a task force to come up with short- and long-term solutions to the natural gas supply shortage problem in Westchester.

The council states that the task force will be comprised of representatives of the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

“The task force's charge will be to explore and make specific recommendations on how best to address the gas supply shortage so that economic growth is not brought to a virtual standstill,” the Business Council stated.

Instant Insights /

Westchester County Executive Expected to Meet Next Week with Con Edison Over Gas Moratorium

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