For households in the Northeast dependent on fuel oil for heat this fall and winter, prices for that energy to cook meals, warm homes, and enjoy hot showers have more than doubled from a year ago. Consider $2.60 per gallon in 2025 to $6.14 today, according to the EIA. Not surprisingly, the cost of fuel oil has become a meaty bone of contention in politics to which the Administration yesterday announced the release of one-third of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to reduce surging prices. The temporary Band-Aid to avoid a supply disruption this cold season also came with a push for a new natural gas pipeline to wean the region off heating oil.  

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest news on the Constitution Pipeline, a project helmed by Tulsa-based Williams now 14 years in the making and considered all but dead to flow 650 MMCFD of natural gas from Susquehanna County, Pa., to Schoharie County, N.Y. The proposed 125-mile pipeline, which has endured endless activist opposition, courtroom battles, regulatory delays, and millions in efforts to get off the ground, is now poised to see new life in the Northeast. The Administration has announced $42 million in federal funding to resuscitate the Constitution, with proceeds going toward permitting, preconstruction work, and associated infrastructure.

Williams describes the Constitution pipeline as a lifeline to help relieve current pipeline bottlenecks in the Northeast with connections to the Iriquois and Tennessee interstate systems to open a vital corridor that flows lower-carbon energy. Natural gas offers a cleaner, less costly means vs fuel oil to heat households and businesses in a region where winters can be bone-shivering and the