DOE Puts Up to $42 Million in Defense Production Act Funding Behind the Constitution Pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on October 19 that it will use up to $42 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III funding to advance the development of the Constitution Pipeline, a proposed 125-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York planned by Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC.
DOE said the funding will support eligible pre-construction and permitting activities, including environmental reviews and assessments, engineering and site-preparation work, and other costs of securing regulatory approvals; once permits are complete, it will also support deployment of complementary natural gas infrastructure. Under Presidential Determination No. 2026-12, natural gas pipelines, processing and storage are identified as essential to national defense, and the Working Families Tax Cut has appropriated $1 billion for energy projects deemed critical to national security.
"Despite America having an abundant supply of low-cost natural gas, tens of millions of Americans have limited access to this reliable energy source due to a lack of pipeline infrastructure," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, adding that the project will reduce the risk of blackouts during periods of peak demand. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, chairman of the National Energy Dominance Council, said the investment will help deliver reliable, secure energy while saving families across the Northeast billions of dollars.
The project, developed by Williams' Constitution Pipeline Company, is designed to carry 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day through a 30-inch pipeline from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, across Broome, Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie counties in New York, connecting with existing interstate pipeline systems. First proposed in 2012 and approved by federal regulators in 2014, the project stalled after New York denied a water-quality certification in 2016, and the developer halted investment in 2020. In December 2025 the company asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reissue its certificate; Williams is targeting service in the fourth quarter of 2028, pending approvals.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 资料照片：工人正在焊接一根天然气管道（资料图，非本项目）。Jukka Isokoski 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布。File photo: workers welding a natural gas pipeline (file photo, not this project). By Jukka Isokoski, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
