SLATER CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION ON UTILITY COST RELIEF

This week, Assemblyman Matt Slater (R,C-Yorktown) joined members of the Senate and Assembly Minority Conferences at a press conference to reinforce their calls for Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats to provide immediate cost-cutting measures for New Yorkers still struggling under costly utility bills.

As the state budget remains unresolved more than a month past the April 1 deadline, the state’s energy consumers continue to pay some of the highest prices in the country. According to a recent report, unworkable energy mandates have pushed New York’s electricity prices to nearly 70% above the national average. In a memo released earlier this year by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), when the state’s energy mandates are fully implemented, annual utility prices may exceed more than $4,000 for upstate households.  

“New Yorkers are being crushed by skyrocketing utility bills and deserve relief now,” said Slater. “Families should not have to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table. The LOWER Plan delivers real relief by lowering costs, strengthening our energy grid and protecting consumer choice, while ensuring New York has a reliable and affordable energy future.”

Assembly Minority Leader Ra said, “Reducing energy prices should have been a Day 1 priority. Instead, Democrats have delivered nothing but empty rhetoric while consumers continue to wait for Albany to act. Billions in funding that could be used to provide cost relief is available right now. Republican proposals to bring costs down were introduced months ago. It is long past time for Albany Democrats to stop stalling and deliver real relief to New York families still struggling with some of the most expensive energy bills in the nation.”

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said, “Kathy Hochul is bleeding New York dry, forcing us to pay 70% more for electricity than the rest of America thanks to her 36 utility rate hikes and energy mandates. While families struggle to keep the lights on, she’s hoarding a $2.4 billion energy tax slush fund that belongs to you. On day one as governor, I will dismantle Hochul’s mandates, return every cent of that $2.4 billion to the overtaxed ratepayers of this state and cut your utility bill in half.” 

Earlier this year, Assembly Republicans introduced the LOWER Plan, a comprehensive energy initiative focused on delivering immediate financial relief to New Yorkers struggling with rising utility costs. The plan includes a $2 billion Energy Price Rebate Check Program for moderate- and middle-income households, as well as utility bill credits that would return surplus NYSERDA Climate Investment Account funds directly to ratepayers—currently estimated at $2.4 billion. The proposal also supports reinvesting in previously retired gas plants and developing new natural gas facilities to help stabilize energy prices and strengthen grid reliability.

In addition to short-term relief, the LOWER Plan outlines long-term reforms aimed at ensuring New York’s energy system remains reliable, affordable and consumer-focused. The plan calls for restructuring state energy mandates, protecting consumer energy choice and eliminating costly requirements related to appliances, buildings and electric school buses. It also proposes expanding natural gas production and transportation infrastructure, conducting cost-benefit analyses of CLCPA renewable energy mandates, establishing a New York Advanced Nuclear Energy Office, studying the feasibility of small modular reactors and expanding the POWER UP grant program to support natural gas and pipeline projects statewide.