Congressman Nick Langworthy (NY-23) led a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul in response to the report issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) analyzing the issues related to the widespread outages during Winter Storm Elliot and recommendations to protect energy access during future winter storms.
“We strongly urge you to consider the report’s recommendations to protect natural gas infrastructure, including wellheads, from extreme cold weather, after production was affected during the winter storm threatening the safety of millions of New Yorkers,” the members wrote. “The report produced by FERC and NERC confirmed what we feared about the reliability of our state’s bulk power system operations—the grid—and its endurance during an extreme weather event.”
“Despite the report’s conclusion that natural gas remains a critical source of heating and power generation for New Yorkers, the policies carried out by your office and by the New York State Assembly appear to reject these realities,” the letter continued.
Congressman Langworthy was joined on the letter by House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY-21) and Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (NY-04), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Mark Molinaro (NY-19), Claudia Tenney (NY-24) and Brandon Williams (NY-22).
You can read the letter below:
