New Yorkers have been warned for years that the state’s 2019 climate law would hammer families with massive energy costs. Now, even the state’s own numbers are backing that up — and the price tag is brutal.
According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, households could be paying an extra $4,100 a year by 2031 just for home heating gas. And it doesn’t stop there. Gasoline is expected to jump $2.23 per gallon, while business utility bills could rise 46% and truck delivery costs more than 60% — because nothing says “helping consumers” like making everything more expensive.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running on an “affordability” message, seems to have suddenly noticed the political danger here. Her budget director claims rule changes are needed to “fit the times,” as if critics haven’t been warning about these insane costs since the law passed. Funny how “the times” always change right before an election.
Even left-leaning groups have admitted the policy is a mess. Last year, the Progressive Policy Institute called it an “undeniable” failure that has driven up costs, squeezed reliable energy supply, and damaged the political future of the state’s climate agenda. Translation: reality showed up, and it wasn’t impressed.
The law was originally pushed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and then doubled down by Hochul, with goals of cutting gas emissions 40% by 2030 and forcing 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040. The problem? There simply isn’t enough renewable energy capacity to meet those demands. NYSERDA itself now admits there’s a lack of market capacity to power EVs, heat pumps, and everything else the law mandates.
Hochul has already delayed parts of her new energy tax and paused the all-electric building rule. She’s even looking at modular nuclear plants — a quiet acknowledgment that wind and solar alone won’t cut it. But delaying the mandates requires legislative approval, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has made clear she doesn’t want to touch them.
Unless Albany lawmakers step in and stop these runaway costs, voters will be stuck paying thousands more every year just to keep the lights on and the heat running. And if they don’t act, New Yorkers may decide in November that it’s time to show them the door.
Common sense energy beats climate fantasies every time — and there’s still time to choose sanity.
