In a report released on September 21, 2023, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the natural gas system in New York City nearly failed and left a million customers without heat on December 24, 2022, during Winter Storm Elliott.[1] The near emergency has not previously been disclosed. The report was released during a FERC meeting, during which the commission also approved four new natural gas projects despite continued disagreement over how projects’ greenhouse gas emissions should be assessed.

On the morning of December 24, 2022, Consolidated Edison (ConEd), the largest utility in the state, declared a gas emergency as pipeline pressure declined rapidly. If the utility had not taken emergency action, FERC staff said gas heating could have been shut off for months in “all or parts” of the utility’s footprint. ConEd serves gas to 1.1 million customers in New York City. During Winter Storm Elliott, the natural gas system experienced widespread freezing issues and problems with the interstate pipelines. Outages at 63 natural gas power plant units were attributed to natural gas deliveries being cut off.

[1] https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/presentation-ferc-nerc-regional-entity-joint-inquiry-winter-storm-elliott