The state Public Service Commission on Thursday affirmed a "reliability need" for a previously rejected natural gas pipeline into lower New York, advancing the National Grid-backed plan to expand local gas availability.

The proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline, previously rejected by the state under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was granted new life earlier this year with support from the fossil-fuel favoring Trump administration and a willingness by Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration to give it a second look.

The decision by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to reconsider the project followed negotiations aided by Hochul's office to restore work on the Empire Wind project off Long Island.

In proceedings Thursday reviewing National Grid's lon

See Full Page