Con Ed Pushes Geothermal Energy During Westchester Gas Moratorium

As Con Edison's moratorium on natural gas hookups in Westchester County enters its 10th month, company officials are hoping to accelerate their customers' use of geothermal heat pumps.

The moratorium, which has been in effect since March, is now on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's radar. The governor told CBS New York that he felt the same about Con Ed's moratorium as about National Grid's moratorium. He not only made an agreement with National Grid to lift its moratorium on new gas service in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn but also to pay $36 million to compensate affected customers and support new conservation and clean energy projects.

Con Ed imposed its moratorium in Westchester because the company said it didn't have the capacity to bring in more natural gas and could not safely connect new firm gas customers and meet all customers' needs on the coldest days.

On Monday, company officials said Con Ed is working on getting more natural gas into the area. Meanwhile, the company is trying to help its Westchester customers make the transition away from fossil fuels.

"We are expanding our Smart Solutions program, and are taking decisive action to advance electrification and clean energy goals envisioned under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act,” said Mike Clendenin, Con Edison spokesman.

The Smart Solutions program already has led about 30 Westchester County customers to choose geothermal heat pump technology for heating their homes, and Con Ed officials predict their heat pump offerings to customers are likely to grow significantly in 2020, through additional incentive funding requested from state regulators.

Plus they're going to check out the potential role of hydrogen in further reducing the carbon footprint of Con Ed's gas distribution system.

They're doing a lot, they said: "We’ve provided customers with whom we interact in the moratorium area, and throughout our service area, with information on non-fossil fueled energy alternatives, and discussed demand reduction opportunities with our largest firm gas customers. We also will launch a district energy study and associated pilots exploring geothermal loops in lieu of natural gas infrastructure. If the study shows promising results, the Company will test the concept of heating an entire neighborhood with clean geothermal energy."

As for the natural gas, company officials said they are working on agreements for increased compression on existing interstate gas transmission pipelines, as well as the use of compressed natural gas at various storage sites.