After White House Links State Support for Pipelines to Construction of Offshore Wind, Public Citizen Alleges Quid Pro Quo
WASHINGTON — When the Trump administration lifted its first stop work order on Empire Wind in May 2025, shortly after New York Gov. Hochul “caved” to Trump and agreed to allow two natural gas pipelines that would cut across the state to move forward, the federal government engaged in an illegal quid pro quo conspiracy to favor gas pipelines over other, less expensive, and much-needed energy sources, according to a Public Citizen filing today with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
According to the filing, the Constitution Pipeline, a proposed 125-mile long, 30-inch diameter pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York, set to be built by a subsidiary of Williams Companies, petitioned FERC to build the pipeline on December 19, 2025. Three days later, on December 22, 2025, the Trump Administration ordered a stop to every single offshore wind project under construction off the northeast coast of the U.S.
“This timing of these two actions are not a coincidence,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “The Trump administration’s unhinged assault on resource adequacy by using unlawful stop-work orders to block offshore wind projects is nothing short of a bargaining chip to force a variety of political and regulatory concessions from Northeast Governors.”
According to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, FERC can approve a pipeline “only where the public benefits outweigh the project’s adverse impacts.” In other words, FERC has a responsibility to determine whether a conspiracy to favor gas pipelines over other, less expensive, and much-needed energy sources constitutes an adverse impact that must be weighed as part of the Commission approval process. Under the Natural Gas Act, FERC must determine that “the business of transporting and selling natural gas for ultimate distribution to the public is affected with a public interest.”
# # #