The ‘Lights On With Energy Relief’ Plan Will Save New Yorkers’ Energy Bills

If you are one of the many households that has experienced a staggering increase in your energy bills, you are likely wondering what is being done to address yet another layer of New York’s growing affordability crisis. Unfortunately, from Albany Democrats, the answer has largely been the same: Stay the course.

This week, my Assembly Republican colleagues and I introduced the “Lights On With Energy Relief (LOWER)” plan, a legislative package designed to provide immediate financial relief to overwhelmed ratepayers while addressing the long-term structural problems driving these egregious costs.

The first part of the proposal includes quick relief initiatives aimed at reducing costs and putting money back into your pockets through an energy price rebate check program, utility bill credits and immediate reinvestment into previously retired gas plants as well as investments in new natural gas plants. The second part of the LOWER plan identifies existing unfeasible climate directives and seeks to reverse their negative impacts on ratepayers. It also requires a cost-benefit analysis of renewable energy goals based on the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

The Democrats’ pursuit of aggressive climate mandates under the CLCPA produces just as much collateral damage as it does promises, which cannot be kept. The law requires a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2050. In addition, the governor’s plan requires 100% zero-emission electricity generation by 2040. These are not realistic targets. We are not close to meeting those benchmarks now, and our current unreliable grid will not allow us to meet those benchmarks any time soon.

We have out-of-control utility costs and unstable grid reliability. Residential electric prices in the state have increased 47% since 2019. And a recent memo from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) outlining projected compliance costs for these mandates estimates that, when fully implemented, upstate residents could face costs exceeding $4,000.

Balance between state energy mandates and affordability is fundamental, but it’s clear our environmental goals and economic reality do not match up. Even as the governor appears to be warming to the reality that adjustments may be necessary, legislative majorities in Albany remain reluctant to revisit these mandates. If affordability is truly a priority, then policies that are demonstrably failing—by the administration’s own projections no less—must be reconsidered.

The goal of a cleaner environment is widely shared. But achieving it requires a system grounded in common sense. If we fix the system, the goal will follow.

If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected]. You may also find me, Assemblyman Will Barclay, on Facebook or X at @WillABarclay.

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