While there is no single solution to energy issues facing this region, Broadwater Energy offers the Long Island Sound region a large new supply of safe, clean-burning natural gas that will help meet regional air quality goals. In addition, it will also result in about $300 in savings per year on energy bills for an average household on Long Island once the project is in operation.

Seventy-five percent of survey participants on Long Island believe that not enough is being done to address energy supplies in the decades ahead, and 84 percent think not enough is being done to address energy prices. Natural gas is viewed as an important energy source, with 93 percent saying it is important for there to be a reliable source in the region.

"The poll results are not a surprise and support other recent polling on Broadwater," said David Bomke, Executive Director of the New York Energy Consumers Council (NYECC), the largest energy customer advocacy organization in New York State. "We have a real opportunity here to get a project that benefits consumers where it counts – in the pocketbook – as well as provide an environmental benefit by bringing more clean-burning natural gas into the region."

The recent Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Broadwater stated there's a need for additional gas supply, and that Broadwater would have fewer environmental impacts than other alternatives.

Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates is a New York-based international public opinion research firm.