{"id":151270,"date":"2026-03-03T17:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151270\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T17:37:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T17:37:12","slug":"brace-for-thousands-more-in-energy-costs-unless-albany-fixes-nys-insane-climate-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/151270\/","title":{"rendered":"Brace for THOUSANDS more in energy costs \u2014 unless Albany fixes NY’s insane climate law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Critics, including us, have been warning that New Yorkers\u2019 energy<\/a> costs are about to soar even higher, thanks to the state\u2019s insane 2019 climate law.<\/p>\n

Now, a state agency itself is confirming those warnings \u2014 and has even put a price tag on the pain: a whopping $4,100 a year extra per household by 2031.<\/p>\n

\"GovernorNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul appears set to push for changes or delays to a 2019 climate law that will send costs soaring. AP<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just home heating gas,<\/a> reports the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority; gasoline costs are also set to shoot up: At the pump a gallon of gas is expected to go up an eye-watering $2.23.<\/p>\n

Plus, businesses\u2019 utility costs could rise 46%, and truck-delivery expenses over 60% \u2014 sending consumer prices through the roof.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> seems to have recognized at least the political danger: As she runs for reelection on a promise of affordability, voters won\u2019t find the extra hit particularly \u201caffordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she appears set to push for changes or delays to the law \u2014 at least until after she\u2019s safely reelected.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n

Sometimes rule changes are needed to \u201cfit the times,\u201d argues Hochul Budget Director Blake Washington, as if \u201cthe times\u201d have dramatically changed unpredictably since the law was passed. <\/p>\n

Truth is, opponents have been flagging its astronomical (and pointless) costs for years. <\/p>\n

Last year, even the left-leaning Progressive Policy Institute called it an \u201cundeniable\u201d failure<\/a> that\u2019s only succeeded in \u201cdriving up costs for families, constraining reliable supply\u201d and imperiling \u201cthe political viability of the state\u2019s climate agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Climate Act was first championed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo before Hochul doubled down on slashing gas emissions by 40% by 2030 with the goal of achieving 100% zero-carbon-emission electricity by 2040.<\/p>\n

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Yet fantasizing about an alternate reality didn\u2019t bring it about: \u201cThere is a lack of market capacity to deliver the volume of renewable energy\u201d for EVs, heat pumps, etc., to meet the requirements called for under the climate law, notes NYSERDA\u2019s bombshell memo.<\/p>\n

Hochul has already quietly pushed her new energy tax \u2014 the \u201ccap and invest\u201d program for reducing greenhouse gas emissions \u2014 past this fall\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also paused the state\u2019s all-electric building mandate. And she\u2019s sought new modular nuclear-power plants upstate.<\/p>\n

Yet she\u2019ll need the Legislature\u2019s backing even just to delay the law\u2019s mandates, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, for one, is already on record opposing any effort to mess with them.<\/p>\n

Unless Albany lawmakers get on board and head off the additional costs, voters would be justified in showing them the door come November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Critics, including us, have been warning that New Yorkers\u2019 energy costs are about to soar even higher, thanks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4241,304,4762,426,11538,9,11,10,49,51,50,299,2157,4281],"class_list":{"0":"post-151270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-albany","9":"tag-editorial","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-kathy-hochul","12":"tag-legislature","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-news","16":"tag-new-york-state","17":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","18":"tag-new-york-state-news","19":"tag-opinion","20":"tag-renewable-energy","21":"tag-state-budget"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}