Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) yesterday released a report titled "Pipelines and their Benefits to New York" at a breakfast discussion on the Future of Natural Gas and Economic Development in New York, hosted by New Yorkers for Affordable Energy. Faced with a new everyday reality of energy insecurity for many in the U.S., CEA’s report examines the benefits of pipelines to New York - specifically highlighting the need for affordable energy supplies to keep the daily lives of families and businesses across New York moving.
CEA’s report examines the benefits of pipelines, and the availability of fuels like natural gas, outside of the traditional scope of jobs and economic growth. That’s because CEA believes the benefits of pipelines should also be examined for their cost reductions and the critical service the energy they transport provides to New York’s families, small businesses and households – especially people living on the margins of society or even paycheck-to-paycheck.
Highlights from the report include:

• In New York, natural gas alone provides nearly 46 percent of the state’s electricity needs. As the state continues to rely more and more on natural gas and building or expanding gas-fired power plants, that number is expected to rise to 56 percent of New York’s electric needs.
  
• 74 percent of energy generation for downstate residents is provided by fossil fuels – and natural gas is used by more than half of all New Yorkers to heat their homes.