Res. No. 934

Resolution supporting the proposed Broadwater Energy Project, a floating liquefied natural gas storage and re-gasification facility to be located in the New York State waters of Long Island Sound, and urging the appropriate state and federal agencies to provide a favorable review of the project in light of the critical role it will play in ensuring reliable, affordable, and clean electricity for New Yorkers.  

By Council Members Gennaro, Nelson, Felder, Recchia, Fidler and Weprin

Whereas, To ensure reliability, to promote economic growth, and to address environmental issues, the New York City Energy Policy Task Force (“Task Force”) projects a need for an additional electricity resources by 2012; and

Whereas, The Task Force concluded that the best way to meet this new electricity need will be through a comprehensive program that combines new and repowered generation plants, transmission lines, and distributed resources, including increased investments in energy efficiency and demand reduction, and that diversifies the City’s fuel supply, including through the development of gas supply projects; and

Whereas, Mayor Bloomberg’s recently released long-term sustainability plan, “PLANYC 2030,” also recognizes that assuring reliable, affordable, and clean electricity is essential to the City remaining the world’s financial, corporate, and communications capital, emphasizing the critical importance of improving energy planning, reducing the city’s energy consumption, modernizing electricity delivery infrastructure, and expanding the city’s clean power supply, including supporting the expansion of natural gas infrastructure including liquefied natural gas import terminals

Whereas, natural gas currently fuels approximately ninety percent of New York City’s generating capacity and more than three-quarters of all energy used in buildings, and the New York State Energy Plan, issued by the New York State Energy Planning Board, forecasts demand for natural gas to increase forty percent by 2020 - mostly driven by electricity generation; and

Whereas, The New York City Metropolitan Region is located at the end of the natural gas pipeline infrastructure and does not have sufficient local production or storage capacity for natural gas, leaving New York City vulnerable to disruptions along these pipelines; and

Whereas, New York City receives its natural gas from long-haul pipelines extending from the Gulf Coast and from Canada whose supply, on the hottest and coldest days, falls short of the City’s demands by up to 1.2 billion cubic feet, sometimes leading to severe spikes in prices in cold and hot weather; and

Whereas, New York is experiencing higher and increasingly volatile natural gas prices and between 2000 and 2002, natural gas prices increased 49% and between 2003 and 2004, natural gas prices increased an additional 35%; and 

Whereas, While much more can and must be done to promote the efficient use of electricity to address the region’s energy-related reliability, diversity, cost and environmental concerns, additional investments in natural gas supplies in the New York City metropolitan region are also acknowledged as a critical need; and

Whereas, The Task Force and PLANYC 2030 recommended that the City support the development of new natural gas infrastructure for the city in order to enhance reliability, increase diversity of supply sources, and reduce price volatility; and

Whereas, New sources of natural gas, the cleanest fuel available for fuel-burning power plants, would promote and achieve a cleaner and healthier environment, which is vital to the health of City residents in light of the fact that New York City suffers from some of worst ambient air quality conditions in the country; and

Whereas, The Broadwater Energy Project (“Broadwater”), a floating liquefied natural gas storage and re-gasification facility to be located in the New York State waters of Long Island Sound, has been proposed and would provide significant new storage capacity and a new and more diverse supply of natural gas to New York City through connections with the Iroquois Gas Transmission System; and

Whereas, Broadwater, at peak send-out, is projected to provide approximately 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas and increase the delivery capability to New York City by roughly 25 percent, and supply enough gas to fuel approximately 5800 MW of gas-fired electricity generation; and

Whereas, As projected, Broadwater would enhance reliability and lower energy prices.  In fact, recent economic studies prepared by Broadwater estimate that Broadwater would save the City approximately $330 million per year in electricity and natural gas costs combined, or energy cost savings of approximately $300 hundred per household; and

Whereas, Numerous business, labor, trade and consumer organizations including the NYC Partnership, The New York Building Congress, The New York Energy Consumer’s Council, The Real Estate Board of New York, The Rent Stabilization Association, Consumer Power Advocates, the Business Council of New York State, and Association of Community Organiations for Reform Now (ACORN) support this project for both its environmental and economic impact on the New York region; and

Whereas, The United States Coast Guard Waterways Suitability Report has found that Broadwater can be operated safely and securely in Long Island Sound, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement found that Broadwater would have limited adverse environmental impacts; and

Whereas, The City of New York has supported the Broadwater project, stating in a January 23, 2007 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that the project provides a “unique opportunity…to make the City a more secure and competitive place to live and do business” and calling Broadwater “a critical project to ensure energy diversity, reliability, and affordability for years to come”; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York does hereby support the proposed Broadwater Energy Project, a floating liquified natural gas storage and re-gasification facility to be located in the New York State waters of Long Island Sound, and urges the appropriate state and federal agencies to provide a favorable review of the project in light of the critical role it will play in ensuring reliable, affordable, and clean electricity for New Yorkers.

DAA 6-20-07

LS # 2963