“Feds Will “Step In” to Build Marcellus-to-New England Pipeline”,

“On the surface, it may seem odd that Sec. Burgum, from the Department of Interior, would be the one to make statements about using federal action to complete the Constitution Pipeline.”

Feds Will “Step In” to Build Marcellus-to-New England Pipeline

ENERGY SERVICES | INDUSTRYWIDE ISSUES | NEW YORK | PENNSYLVANIA | PIPELINES | REGULATION| STATEWIDE NY | SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY | WILLIAMS

There has been dynamite news coming from this week’s CERAWeek by S&P conference in Houston (wish we were there!). Of all the things reported thus far (with two days still to go), no piece of news has been more dynamite than a statement made by Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum during a talk at the event yesterday. Speaking of the 124-mile Constitution Pipeline project that Williams gave up on building in 2020 after years of delays and legal roadblocks by New York State, Burgum said the Trump administration is willing to “step in” and take federal action to get the pipeline project from the Pennsylvania Marcellus to New York and New England completed.

On the surface, it may seem odd that Sec. Burgum, from the Department of Interior, would be the one to make statements about using federal action to complete the Constitution Pipeline. Why wouldn’t Chris Wright, Secretary of Energy, be the one to make such an announcement? Let us explain.

Nearly one month ago, we were blown away when President Trump announced a pledge to build the long-dead Constitution Pipeline (see Stop Press! Trump Pledges to Revive PA-to-NY Constitution Pipeline). Trump’s said: “We are going to get this done, and once we start construction, we’re looking at anywhere from nine to 12 months.”

Trump’s comments came during a ceremony to sign an executive order creating the National Energy Dominance Council (see Trump Signs EO Establishing National Energy Dominance Council). The council’s charter is to move quickly to increase domestic oil and gas production. The Council is chaired by the Secretary of the Interior (Doug Burgum) and vice-chaired by the Secretary of Energy (Chris Wright). That is why Burgum, in his role of heading up the Council, was the guy who made statements at CERAWeek committing the federal government to “step in” and get the Constitution Pipeline built.

The Trump administration wants a pipeline to carry Pennsylvania shale gas into northeastern states—and it’s willing to take federal action to get a project completed.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, formerly governor of North Dakota, said the administration is looking at all options to connect northeast Pennsylvania production with demand centers in New England.

“If we just had another 124 miles of pipeline in New York, then we would have all of New England with lower electrical prices and they could be burning clean U.S. natural gas from ourselves,” Burgum said March 12 during the 2025 CERAWeek by S&P Global Conference.

The administration appears to be targeting the Constitution Pipeline, a 124-mile gas pipeline that would carry Marcellus Shale gas from Pennsylvania to an end point near Albany, New York.

Burgum said the constraints to carry Marcellus gas into New England was part of President Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency at the start of his second term.

“He wants the people of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts to have the same opportunity for low-cost, clean energy that the people in Pennsylvania do,” Burgum said.

“We will step in to make sure we can deliver that,” he said.

Williams Cos., the midstream company principally backing Constitution Pipeline, canceled the project in 2020 after running into intense water quality permit opposition from the New York state government.

And Williams is not necessarily keen to restart the project until it receives support from regional governors in the northeast, Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said this week.

National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC)

In mid-February, the Trump administration announced the formation of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) within the executive office of the president.

NEDC is chaired by Burgum and vice-chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright—formerly CEO of Denver-based fracking specialist Liberty Energy.

The council was established to “identify strategic projects that need to have happened, with the authority of the president” under the national energy emergency declaration, Burgum said.

Instead of those projects taking eight to 10 years, NEDC aims to shave that timeline down to between two to four years, he said.

“We will come up with ways that we can cut red tape,” Burgum said. “We will identify where the overreach is.”*

For those newer to MDN, we covered the Constitution Pipeline from its announcement in 2012 until its ultimate death in 2020. The Constitution Pipeline was a joint venture between Williams (who would have been the builder/operator), Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy), Duke Energy, and AltaGas. The Constitution was a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline from the Marcellus gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA, to Schoharie County, NY, to move Marcellus gas into New York State and New England.

As designed, the Constitution would have connected to (flowed gas to) the Iroquois Gas Transmission System near the Wright compressor station in Schoharie County and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline near the end of its route west of Albany. Here’s a good map showing the route and interconnections of the Constitution Pipeline:

So far, Williams has been mum on the possibility of resurrecting the project.

*Hart Energy/Chris Mathews (Mar 12, 2025) – Burgum: Feds ‘Will Step In’ to Build Marcellus-to-New England Pipeline