A quick look at stats illustrates why New York natural gas prices are so high and spike even higher at times of peak use; it’s about the lack of pipelines.

One of our astute readers commented the other day about the need to document the cost of pipeline delays to average New Yorkers. It prompted me to visit the Energy Information Administration (EIA) natural gas page to research things a bit. There are statistics galore there to study. I focused on two states, New York and New Jersey, and three sets of data. These included natural gas consumption, pipeline inflow capacity and prices. It quickly became clear why New York natural gas prices are so high and why those numbers skyrocket during periods of peak use. New York State needs more pipeline capacity.

Here’s an excerpt from an EIA news release back on January 10 reflecting on the previous week (emphasis added):

Some of the largest price increases during this period occurred in the Northeast. Prices at the Algonquin Citygate and Transco Zone 6 NY trading hubs, which serve the greater Boston and New York City markets, respectively, reached near-record levels. The spot price for delivery at the Algonquin Citygate reached $82.75 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on January 5, 2018, which was slightly lower than the record of $84.22/MMBtu reported in January 2004, real adjusted 2017 dollars. The Transco Zone 6 NY price reached $140.52/ MMBtu, topping records reached during winter 2013-14.

Read more:

http://naturalgasnow.org/new-york-natural-gas-prices-high-pipelines/