Lawmakers won’t water down or delay climate law mandates, Stewart-Cousins says

Legislative leaders aren’t discussing rolling back New York’s ambitious green energy mandates – even as Republicans blast out-of-control energy and utility costs.

Assembly Republicans on Tuesday said residential electric prices in the state have increased 47% since 2019, which, coupled with grid reliability and supply issues, has crushed low- and middle-income households with higher costs. They proposed a $2 billion energy rebate program to provide relief and utility bill credits requiring any surplus revenue to be returned to ratepayers.

“Energy needs to be affordable and reliable, and New Yorkers deserve both,” said Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra, a Republican from Long Island.

Ra said as Republicans and Democrats seeking election this fall are focused on affordability, New York must roll back mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as by delaying the requirement that all school buses be 100% electric by 2035. The 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act requires a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and at least a 85% reduction by 2050. The state is nowhere close to meeting those climate benchmarks.

But Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Senate Democrats aren’t discussing changing or delaying the mandates required under the law.

“That's not a conversation that we've had,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters Tuesday at an unrelated event in Albany. “Beyond anything, we've demonstrated our commitment to trying to make things more affordable.”

Senate Democrats passed legislation earlier this month to direct New York’s Public Service Commission to require electric or gas utilities to notify customers about proposed rate hikes, and others to expand the commission and require commissioners to consider the economic impact of utility rate changes. 

“I think our conference has been really deliberative in how to make sure that we protect our climate and we make things more affordable,” Stewart-Cousins said. “So we are constantly moving towards a direction that will, you know, alleviate the pain and save the planet, and we'll continue to do that.” 

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s office did not return requests for comment.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has enraged some environmentalists by pivoting to an “all of the above” energy approach that prioritizes cost concerns over environmental concerns. She’s proposed cutting burdensome environmental regulations that delay affordable housing projects and constructing a new zero-emission nuclear power plant upstate. But Republicans say actions speak louder than words.

“Gov. Hochul has said she's for an ‘all of the above’ energy approach, and she's for affordable and reliable energy; unfortunately, her policies do not match the words,” Assembly Member Phil Palmesano said.

Hochul has hinted that the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation have made it impossible to meet the standards set under the 2019 law. 

“I just say to the Legislature and others, where am I going to go?” Hochul said on Feb. 2. “I'm trying my best to meet these goals. They're great, fine, but change the calculation and we’ll look a lot better.”

Last month, Hochul outlined a rate-payer protection plan in her State of the State agenda to modernize the Public Service Law and require all utilities disclose a budget that keeps their operating costs under the rate of inflation when requesting rate increases.

"Gov. Hochul has repeatedly said rates in New York are too high, which is why she has made energy affordability a top priority, having introduced a Ratepayer Protection Plan in January designed to hold utilities accountable and keep ratepayer costs down,” said Ken Lovett, Hochul’s senior communications advisor on energy and the environment. “Rather than election-year political posturing, New York Republicans would be better off pushing their colleagues in Washington to stop imposing illegal tariffs that are driving up costs across the board and cease their endless fight against renewable energy that will bring needed power to the state."

Stewart-Cousins didn’t rule out working with Republicans to lower energy costs for New Yorkers.

“We understand that affordability is not a partisan issue,” she said. “If they have a package, hopefully we can agree and, you know, pass legislation that will indeed impact people in a positive way.

“We're not closed to anybody's suggestions,” she later added. “I think we look at whatever is out there, and we try, and not just here, (but) nationally, to try and figure out the best way forward.”