Rate hike approved for North Brooklyn pipeline

New York’s Public Service Commission approved National Grid’s request to increase gas rates throughout parts of New York City to pay for the controversial North Brooklyn Pipeline.
The project would install a new gas pipeline underneath parts of Brownsville, Greenpoint, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Williamsburg. Detractors argue that the pipeline would pollute the ground and water of multiple communities of color and low-income communities.
Despite the criticism, National Grid holds that the new construction will allow for safer, more reliable, and more efficient gas supply in North Brooklyn.
After two years of negotiations, a price increase was finally approved that will help National Grid finance the project. National Grid estimates the agreement will raise customers’ bills by an average of $5.56 per month in 2021 and then by $4.89 per month in 2022. The rate hike will affect approximately 1.9 million New Yorkers in all five boroughs.
Since July 1, over 200 Greenpointers have joined a strike to protest the change, withholding $66 from their monthly gas bill.