Energy Secretary Chris Wright discusses the Energy Department’s commitment to bolster grid power and enhance the nation’s critical energy infrastructure. Hosts Stuart Varney and FOX Business correspondent Connor Hansen elaborate on the details.
The Trump administration is allocating up to $42 million in federal funding to reinvigorate a long-delayed natural gas pipeline linking Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale to energy markets throughout New York and the broader Northeast region.
The Department of Energy announced on Monday that the funds, utilized under Title III of the Defense Production Act, will support necessary permitting and pre-construction activities for the proposed Constitution Pipeline. The administration aims to expand energy infrastructure and reduce regional energy costs.
The proposed 125‑mile pipeline would transport up to 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas daily from northeastern Pennsylvania into New York, integrating with existing interstate systems serving Northeast customers.
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Williams Companies, a U.S. energy infrastructure firm, targets the fourth quarter of 2028 for the pipeline’s operational launch, contingent upon regulatory clearances.
The funding arrives amid chronic pipeline capacity constraints that have complicated energy supply reliability across the Northeast, particularly during peak winter demand seasons.
A “Natural Gas Liquid Condensate” label in a former hangar at Floyd Bennett Field during a ground-breaking ceremony for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Pipeline in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
During Winter Storm Fern in January, petroleum temporarily surpassed natural gas as New England’s leading electricity generator as power producers shifted to oil amid severe gas rationing, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Separately, the agency forecasts heating oil prices to average 34% higher this winter versus last year. Households relying primarily on heating oil—mostly located in the Northeast—are projected to spend roughly 21% more despite forecasts suggesting milder weather.
A map of the NESE Pipeline project is displayed.(Williams Companies/FOX Business / Fox News)
The Constitution Pipeline originated in 2012 and received federal approval in 2014. Nonetheless, New York regulators blocked a required water-quality certification in 2016, sparking lengthy legal disputes that led to developer abandonment in 2020 due to doubts regarding economic viability.
The initiative has subsequently been revived, with Constitution Pipeline Corp. requesting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December 2025 to reissue its federal certificate. However, the project continues to face federal and state regulatory obstacles before any construction can begin.
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The funding corresponds to an April presidential proclamation invoking the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic natural gas infrastructure against mounting permitting delays, financing shortfalls, and pipeline congestion.
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