After three long years of citizen action, we now have the official decision from the NYS Public Service Commission to approve our community’s proposal for an alternative to a new gas pipeline in Dryden to provide energy for new development in Lansing.  Thanks to all the good folks involved over the past 3 years in making the case for building and heating with the climate in mind! Special thanks to Irene Weiser of Fossil Free Tompkins for pursuing our goals all the way through the PSC case process.  We also want to thank Brice Smith and Melissa Kemp for their work with ST in the early days of this campaign to put together our presentation on ‘Building and Heating with the Climate in Mind’ that we gave many times over the winter of 2014-15.

NYSEG will now install four electric pressure boosters along the existing gas pipeline to Lansing to assure reliability on very cold days for heating the Lansing schools.  In the near future, NYSEG will release a call for proposals on ways to provide space heating and hot water for existing and new development in Lansing through more efficient design and equipment that does not use fracked gas, propane, or fuel oil.

“Our decision today is based, in part, upon New York’s goals along with the significant public input we received from the local community keen to protect the environment and reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Commission Chair John B. Rhodes. “With the environment in mind, this pilot project is intended to boost the gas distribution system’s ability to maintain reliable supply without the need to build a new gas pipeline.”

Read the PSC press release here.