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CURRENT STATUS:
Filed with FERC 12-22-25
Using Previous Dockets CP13-499, and CP18-5
HISTORY
Constitution Pipeline was first proposed in 2012 by Williams Companies (Williams). It would have been a 122 mile interstate pipeline, designed to bring 650,000 Dth/d from delivery points near gas production areas in Susquehana County, PA to the Iroquois Pipeline’s “Wright” compressor station, west of Albany in Schoharie County, NY.
The Wright Compressor Station is a major hub that interconnects the Iroquois, and Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) systems. Iroquois also connects to Enbridge’s (formerly Spectra) Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT) down near the CT / NY border, so the large influx of gas from the fracking fields of PA could become available for the existing TGP and AGT systems leading into New England.
After a dedicated grassroots effort to resist the Constitution Pipeline, it was finally defeated in 2016, when NY State denied the 401 Water Quality Certificate that each state must approve before a pipeline can be built. This happened even after the project had been awarded the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). There were attempts in court to revive the project, but by 2020, it was over. The project was withdrawn and the Certificate vacated at FERC.
Regional system impacts
At the same time, the proposal of the Constitution Pipeline also spurred large proposals from both Kinder Morgan, and Spectra. These projects were proposed across Massachusetts and New Hampshire with project elements also in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. These were concurrent with Constitution’s initial proposal and included TGP’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline and Connecticut Expansion, and projects to substantially expand the AGT system named Access Northeast, Atlantic Bridge, and the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project
2025 — RECONSTITUTING CONSTITUTION
In late January 2025, while issuing new Executive Orders declaring a “National Energy Emergency” and establish a “National Energy Dominance Council” Trump announced the intent to revive the Constitution Pipeline project. This led to a back and forth between the administration, the pipeline company and Governors here in the northeast, with Governor Lamont in CT and Goveror Hochul in NY eventually conceding support for new pipeline development in exchange for concessions to revive wind power projects cancelled by the administration.
For a while, Williams had stated that they would not move forward with the redevelopment of the stalled Constitution pipeline without support from all the governments in the region. Apparently, support from CT and NY were all that were necessary. Shortly after Governor Hochul’s latest meeting with the administration, in which she was reported to have struck a deal, Williams announced that they will move ahead with the project.
It has not yet been filed with FERC, but we will post developments here as they arrive. Since the Certificate was vacated, they were need to start from scratch in the FERC approval process by current regulations. Whether or not these current rules will be cancelled or adhered to is a question we’ll also be watching.