New Yorkers are losing $300 million a year due to natural gas leaks, according to Columbia University researchers.

Nearly 2% of the natural gas supplied to and paid for by city customers is escaping into the air and causing climate pollution, a Columbia study found. The study analyzed data on methane emissions from 2023 and 2024 to quantify the amount of natural gas loss in the five boroughs.

The methane detected by the scientists was uncombusted, which means the pollution wasn't the result of burning natural gas or from a power plant.

According to the study’s lead author Yuwei Zhao, the city’s thousands of miles of underground pipelines and its stoves and boilers are the most likely sources of leaking uncombusted natural gas. Scientists are currently gathering data to quantify the extent that each of these sources are contributing to methane pollution.

“The leaks are a massive waste of money,” said Roisin Commane, a Columbia professor and one of the study’s authors. She added that they're also a major source of methane emissions for the city, which is the largest source of methane pollution in the Northeast.

More than 90% of the city’s electricity is from natural gas , which is mostly composed of methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times more potent for global warming than carbon dioxide.

“If we're going to burn natural gas, we should burn it properly,” Commane said. “Burning it carefully and fully is a priority because the more of it that escapes into the atmosphere, the bigger the impact on climate.”

The researchers said the data indicated there were peaks in methane leakage. Emissions were highest during winter heating and summer cooling seasons, a pattern consistent with increased natural gas delivery and usage.

”For methane, the atmospheric lifetime is about a decade, so if we can reduce the emissions for methane, we'll see a difference in climate warming within about a decade,” Commane said.

The report comes at a time when New York is poised to build the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, which is currently stalled by litigation for its New Jersey segment. In addition, the federal government is also trying to pave the way for the Constitution Pipeline over objections from state environmental regulators.

The study warns that continued dependence on fossil fuels will likely lead to higher emissions because demands for cooling and heating are projected to increase. Researchers said reducing methane emissions from natural gas usage is low-hanging fruit for cutting greenhouse gases in the near term.

“With global temperatures continuing to rise, leading to more frequent, prolonged and intense extreme weather events, including extreme heat and extended cold periods, energy demand for both cooling and heating is expected to grow,” the study stated. “Without a transition to cleaner energy sources, this increased energy demand could lead to higher methane emissions in urban regions.”

City and state-level legislation requiring buildings to discontinue fossil fuel use is set to go into effect. Buildings account for about two-thirds of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions via cooking and heating.