National Grid Agrees To End Moratorium That Cut Off Gas To Thousands

From CBS New York:

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – After months of being refused natural gas service, help is finally on the way to thousands of businesses and homeowners.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday an agreement with National Grid to immediately lift a moratorium on gas service in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn.

For customers who were hurt by the moratorium, National Grid will pay a $36 million penalty.

National Grid agreed to meet the demand for the next two years, allowing it to restore service to any customers that it had refused and grant all pending applications.

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The governor’s office said National Grid will present a long-term options analysis within three months, subject to a public review process. The long-term options will be in place and functioning in Fall 2021.

For months, CBS2 has been demanding answers from National Grid and the governor after thousands of customers were left without gas, including a $92 million development in Nassau County and a Long Island municipal fire department in urgent need of upgrading its facilities.

“Your reporting has been right. I mean, you reported on the real-life consequences of what they did. They literally turned off the gas on people as we’re coming into the winter months,” Cuomo said.

Last month the company was told it had a week to comply with Cuomo’s directive to come up with a plan to provide natural gas or lose its monopoly.

National Grid customers were victims of a gas moratorium declared by the utility as it fights with the state over approval of a controversial pipeline.

That infuriated the governor, who notified National Grid he intends to revoke its license to operate.

National Grid denied natural gas service to some 2,600 homeowners and businesses since May. The company blamed New York’s rejection of an application for a $1 billion pipeline bringing natural gas from Pennsylvania’s shale gas fields.