Westchester County Executive George Latimer has laid out the steps the county will take following Con Edison's announcement of a moratorium on new natural gas hookups as of March 15.

This includes compiling information from affected municipalities to coordinate a response, hiring consultants for counsel and figuring out ways to cut natural gas usage at the county level.

The county is also asking the state Public Service Commission to push back the March 15 deadline.

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"The time frame of the implementation of this moratorium will be particularly difficult for us to deal with because there just isn't enough time for us to come back with an alternate strategy that would be effective and something we can implement in real time,” Latimer said.

Latimer said he and other officials plan to testify at a hearing held by the Public Service Commission next week.

In a statement, a Con Ed representative said the company understands the difficulties presented by the moratorium and will help customers find other options – including clean energy alternatives. Con Ed has blamed new construction and increasing demand for natural gas for the ban on new connections.