NY governor kills new LNG plant, says he wants to conserve energy instead

New York's new governor, David Paterson, killed plans to build the nation’s first floating liquefied natural gas plant, which had been proposed for Long Island Sound, the New York Times reports today.

“Shame on us if we can’t develop a responsible energy policy without sacrificing one of our greatest natural and economic resources," said Paterson, who replaced Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned when caught spending money on prostitutes. Spitzer had been leaning toward approving the plant, according to Newsday.

Instead of a new eight-story high facility that might ruin the sound, Paterson outlined a $1-billion, 10-year program to increase efficiency and to reduce energy consumption on Long Island.

“By reducing the amount of energy demand, and aggressively pursuing new responsible supply, we can get our state on a path toward lower energy costs, economic revitalization and a cleaner, healthier environment,” Paterson said.

The natural gas plant had been proposed by an energy consortium made up of Shell Oil and TransCanada Pipelines. "The group conducted a public relations campaign in hopes of convincing officials and residents that by increasing the supply of natural gas to the region, the project would reduce the utility bills of local residents by up to $300 a year after the terminal was put into full operation in 2011," the Times reported.

Incidentally, a Norwegian company called Hoegh LNG AS has proposed a floating liquefied natural gas terminal just 28 miles from Tampa Bay. As the St. Petersburg Times noted in a story about that project last year: "Concerns about powerful LNG explosions have pushed LNG suppliers to look at offshore delivery terminals. Federal law has allowed offshore LNG delivery since 2002. Since then, 16 LNG providers have applied for licenses, seven have been approved, but only one, off of Louisiana, is supplying LNG." Another one, off Boston, is expected to crank up this month.

To read the St. Petersburg Times story on the Florida LNG terminal, click here. To read the New York Times story on Paterson's decision, click here. To read the Newsday story about how under Gov. Spitzer things might have gone differently, click here.

--Craig Pittman and Asjylyn Loder