North Country officials continue to express their frustrations about rising utility costs, despite the town of Plattsburgh’s forum with New York State Electricity & Gas on Monday that left some customers relieved.”The politics in Albany isn’t reflective of what the North Country stands for,” said Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-NY District 114.Elected officials came out of Albany and into Plattsburgh on Friday for the annual New York State Legislative Forum. The top issue across the aisle for 2026 was affordability.”It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue,” said Assemblyman Michael Cashman, D-NY District 115. “It’s a people that use electricity issue, and that’s everyone.”Cashman said the problem is that most major electric companies have no guardrails.”The costs are continuing to go up for multiple reasons,” Cashman said. “It’s because these companies are making all-time record profits. New York state also needs to pull back on fees.”Cashman recently introduced a bill that would create more transparency among utility companies and customers.While Simpson said he agrees that’s essential, he has concerns about other parts of the bill.”If you put a cap and a penalty on our energy suppliers, then I think there could be decisions made at the corporate level that could impact how much money they’re investing in infrastructure,” Simpson said.But NYSEG customers who attended the town of Plattsburgh’s open house on Monday said the rising costs shouldn’t solely be blamed on the utility company.”They kind of answered questions that it’s not all NYSEG’s fault, per se,” said Frank Bretthauer, a NYSEG customer. “It’s the state and suppliers who make some of the payments.”State Sen. Dan Stec, R-NY District 45, said more than a million people have left New York in the last few years because they can’t afford to stay.”They’re not leaving because we’ve had one bad winter,” Stec said. “We’ve had winter for many, many years. They are leaving because economically, the state is making it impossible for them to stay, that they can do better for themselves and their families and their businesses if they left the state.”NYSEG officials suggest customers join one of their assistance programs to help them pay their bills.

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. —

North Country officials continue to express their frustrations about rising utility costs, despite the town of Plattsburgh’s forum with New York State Electricity & Gas on Monday that left some customers relieved.

“The politics in Albany isn’t reflective of what the North Country stands for,” said Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-NY District 114.

Elected officials came out of Albany and into Plattsburgh on Friday for the annual New York State Legislative Forum.

The top issue across the aisle for 2026 was affordability.

“It’s not a Democrat or Republican issue,” said Assemblyman Michael Cashman, D-NY District 115. “It’s a people that use electricity issue, and that’s everyone.”

Cashman said the problem is that most major electric companies have no guardrails.

“The costs are continuing to go up for multiple reasons,” Cashman said. “It’s because these companies are making all-time record profits. New York state also needs to pull back on fees.”

Cashman recently introduced a bill that would create more transparency among utility companies and customers.

While Simpson said he agrees that’s essential, he has concerns about other parts of the bill.

“If you put a cap and a penalty on our energy suppliers, then I think there could be decisions made at the corporate level that could impact how much money they’re investing in infrastructure,” Simpson said.

But NYSEG customers who attended the town of Plattsburgh’s open house on Monday said the rising costs shouldn’t solely be blamed on the utility company.

“They kind of answered questions that it’s not all NYSEG’s fault, per se,” said Frank Bretthauer, a NYSEG customer. “It’s the state and suppliers who make some of the payments.”

State Sen. Dan Stec, R-NY District 45, said more than a million people have left New York in the last few years because they can’t afford to stay.

“They’re not leaving because we’ve had one bad winter,” Stec said. “We’ve had winter for many, many years. They are leaving because economically, the state is making it impossible for them to stay, that they can do better for themselves and their families and their businesses if they left the state.”

NYSEG officials suggest customers join one of their assistance programs to help them pay their bills.