By: Mario Mancini
According to The New York Post, John Howard, former chairman and current member of the state Public Service Commission, claimed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-run legislature never leveled with the public on the costs associated with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act approved in 2019.
These news laws,, part of a so-called “Green New Deal”, will lead to possibly what will amount to billions of dollars of increased energy bills for New York City residents.
The law, which Cuomo signed in a ceremony with extremist Al Gore at his side, requires New York to slash greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050 by transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, solar and wind.
The state Climate Action Council, meanwhile, is charged with developing a plan to put the state on a path toward zero carbon emissions. Lawmakers, Howard said, refused to directly vote to raise taxes to pay for the capital investments required to develop cleaner energy alternatives to fossil fuels — and left the PSC to be the fall guy, writes Carl Campanile.
The Public Service Commission is in charge with approving rate increases to pay for the capital investments required to comply with the new green-deal inspired law. Con Edison and other utilities will pass on those costs to customers.
“I hope my colleagues on this commission understand that responsibility falls to us exclusively — to the tune of hundreds, not a couple — but hundreds of billions of dollars,” Howard said during last week’s PSC meeting. The legislature, either through its silence or total lack of actions, has given this commission nearly the exclusive responsibility to reach into New Yorkers’ pockets to pay for the CLCPA mandates.” Former State Senators, David Valesky and John Maggiore , warned about relying solely on utility rate hikes to pay for New York’s green new deal.
“The cost of the state’s conversion to green energy far exceeds the ability to finance [solely] through electric bills,” Maggiore said. Aides to Gov. Kathy Hochul and a key lawmaker who helped craft the green energy law slammed Howard as an alarmist.
“It is incorrect and irresponsible to suggest New York ratepayers will be on the hook for the entire cost of our state’s transition to clean energy,” said a spokesperson for the co-chairs of the Climate Action Council, state Department of Environmental Commissioner Basil Seggos and NYS Energy Research and Development Authority CEO Doreen Harris.
“What is indisputable is that the cost of inaction is more than $100 billion higher than the cost of investing in a clean energy future,” the spokesperson added.
