The Trump administration has broken ground on a controversial new pipeline that will carry natural gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey, a major milestone in a project that was part of a deal reached by New York to prevent President Donald Trump from halting the construction of wind turbines.
In Brooklyn on Tuesday, Cabinet officials announced the start of construction on the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project. The project will expand the 10,000-mile transcontinental system with a new 25-mile natural gas pipeline running underwater into New York from New Jersey.
Recommended Stories
The event was hosted by Williams Companies, the firm managing the construction, and included Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Environmental Protection Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The pipeline is going to “deliver enough natural gas to power 2.3 million homes,” Burgum said. “It’s going to help lower the energy costs at over $1,000 per household.”
The pipeline is intended to deliver 400,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day, roughly equivalent to the daily needs of 2.3 million homes, from Pennsylvania to New York City and Long Island. The pipeline is set to go into operation by the end of 2027.
The project appeared dead in 2024, when Williams canceled the project after it was denied a state-level permit. But the project resurfaced last year as the Trump administration sought to boost fossil fuel energy sources.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reissued the project’s permit in August 2025. Then, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued several permits for NESE in November.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) approved the state permits for the project, saying that support for all energy sources, not just renewable power, was needed in light of the Trump administration’s policies.
“We are facing war against clean energy from Washington Republicans, including our New York delegation, which is why we have adopted an all-of-the-above approach that includes a continued commitment to renewables and nuclear power to ensure grid reliability and affordability,” Hochul said at the time.
Environmentalists strongly oppose this pipeline project, claiming it would pollute the waterways. They have sought to prevent the construction of the NESE pipeline through lawsuits.
The project’s start takes place against a backdrop of steeply rising energy prices. The Labor Department said that energy prices rose 12.5% over the past year ending in March. Last month alone, prices climbed 10.9%, making it the largest increase since September 2005.
It was reported last year that Trump halted offshore wind energy projects as leverage to get the pipeline project approved by Hochul.
Over the past year, the administration has paused a number of offshore wind projects, including fully permitted projects such as Equinor’s Empire Wind 1 off the coast of New York. Hochul attempted to get Trump to change his mind about the project.
In May, the White House lifted its stop-work order for the Empire Wind project. Two weeks later, the White House told E&E News that Hochul had “caved” and agreed to allow “two natural gas pipelines to advance” through New York. Hochul had denied there was a deal made.
The two pipelines are NESE and the Constitution pipeline, which is a $1 billion project that would carry gas 124 miles from West Virginia and Pennsylvania to New York and New England.
IRAN WAR DISRUPTS GLOBAL ALUMINUM SUPPLY, PROLONGING SHORTAGES FOR MONTHS
Williams also leads the Constitution pipeline and has attempted to revive a permit to build the project. But, as of January, it has not succeeded.
“Constitution pipeline is next, which will transform the opportunities for people in upstate New York,” Wright said. It will “reset costs lower, grow job opportunities higher, and transform the opportunities in all six states in New England.”
