Betsy McCaughey Sues NY Over Pipeline Blocking CT Energy

Betsy McCaughey, a Republican candidate for Connecticut governor, took her campaign to federal court Tuesday, filing suit in Manhattan against Kathy Hochul over New York’s blockage of a natural gas pipeline she says is driving up electricity rates for Connecticut consumers.

McCaughey, who lives in Greenwich, filed in U.S. District Court at Foley Square, arguing that Hochul is violating the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution by preventing construction of the Constitution Pipeline, which would carry Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania into New England. She claims that blocking the pipeline forces Connecticut to rely on more expensive natural gas sources, pushing electric rates higher across the region.

“So I have filed the suit. I’m not going to wait til I’m governor. There’s no reason that the people of Connecticut should wait six more months to start remedying this situation,” McCaughey said. She also questioned why Ned Lamont had not already pursued the same legal avenue, accusing the governor of “kowtowing to a partisan buddy next door in New York State” rather than fighting for cheaper energy.

McCaughey cited testimony from Laura Swett, chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who told Congress that the pipeline’s absence is forcing New England consumers to pay as much as 300 percent more for natural gas than they otherwise would.

Lamont, a Democrat seeking a third term, has made lowering electric rates a central challenge of his governorship, one complicated by Connecticut’s simultaneous push to reduce carbon emissions. He said in February that he has been in talks with Hochul as well as with the administration of President Donald Trump on expanding energy capacity.

His campaign did not treat McCaughey’s suit as a serious policy move. Spokesman Rob Blanchard called it a political stunt calibrated to appeal to the Trump administration, which has pushed electricity generated from fossil fuels over renewable sources. “Gov. Lamont has made lowering utility costs by expanding energy capacity a top priority,” Blanchard said. “Offshore wind and other renewables are key, but real progress requires a balanced mix of nuclear, natural gas, hydropower and emerging technologies. Projects like Revolution Wind didn’t prevail by accident — it succeeded because Connecticut has a governor willing to stand up to Donald Trump, not one busy trying to win his approval with stunts.”

McCaughey is one of three candidates competing for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Another, Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who serves as the ranking Republican on the Energy and Technology Committee, said Tuesday he has been discussing the idea of suing New York for at least a year. Fazio framed it as something the state government itself could pursue, rather than a move by a candidate filing as an individual consumer and ratepayer.

That distinction matters legally. McCaughey bases her standing to sue on her status as a Connecticut consumer harmed by higher electric rates. Whether a federal court accepts that theory will be an early test of how far the case travels. The cost of pursuing the litigation was not immediately clear.

The lawsuit lands at an awkward moment in the politics of Connecticut energy policy. Lamont has been threading a needle between environmental advocates who want a fast transition away from fossil fuels and ratepayers who have watched electricity bills climb sharply. The governor has resisted committing fully to either natural gas expansion or a renewable-only path, instead pursuing both tracks at once.

McCaughey’s suit frames that ambivalence as weakness and positions her campaign as willing to act rather than negotiate. Her critics, including Lamont’s team, argue it positions her instead as an ally of federal energy priorities that conflict with Connecticut’s own climate commitments.

The case will now move through the Southern District of New York, where federal judges will decide whether McCaughey has standing and whether her constitutional theory holds up. Whatever the legal outcome, the filing guarantees that energy costs and regional infrastructure disputes will remain front and center in Connecticut’s race for governor.