{"id":191696,"date":"2026-04-10T02:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191696\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T02:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:57:10","slug":"blakeman-wants-to-liquidate-nys-green-energy-fund-and-give-2-4b-back-to-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/191696\/","title":{"rendered":"Blakeman wants to liquidate NYS ‘green’ energy fund and give $2.4B back to taxpayers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman wants to liquidate a dormant New York State \u201cgreen\u201d energy fund<\/a> worth billions of dollars \u2014 and refund the money to ease the burden on taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Blakeman said at a press conference in Westchester County on Thursday that the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority is sitting on a $2.4 billion \u201cenergy tax surplus\u201d in the Climate Investment Account, which was earmarked to help the transition from fossil fuels to \u201cgreen\u201d energy.<\/p>\n

The politician has called New York\u2019s climate change law a green energy \u201cscam\u201d and slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul for soaring utility bills.<\/p>\n

Blakeman has called New York\u2019s climate change law a green energy \u201cscam.\u201d Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Kathy Hochul, New York has become the most expensive state in the nation to keep the lights on,\u201d said Blakeman, the current Nassau County executive who was\u00a0joined at the presser by Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Yorktown). \u201cShe has overseen 36 utility rate hikes while pushing mandates that produce little energy but massive costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile families are choosing between buying groceries and paying for heat, Hochul\u2019s administration is sitting on a $2 billion mountain of your money,\u201d Blakeman said. \u201cI pledge to end this slush fund and send that cash back to the people who earned it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Slater said, \u201cThis isn\u2019t Kathy Hochul\u2019s money\u2014it\u2019s your money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fundamentally unfair for Hochul to sit on a multibillion-dollar mountain of cash while seniors on fixed incomes and families are forced to choose between groceries and utilities,\u201d Slater said. \u201cWhen Bruce Blakeman is Governor, we\u2019ll work together to return Hochul\u2019s slush fund to ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vestas Wind Systems turbines stand at the Maple Ridge Wind Farm on the Tug Hill Plateau in Lowville, New York, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 23, 2013. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Blakeman\u2019s plan mirrors legislation proposed by Assembly Republicans in February.<\/p>\n

In January, state regulators approved rate increases allowing Con Edison to hike electric bills by 10.4%<\/a> and gas bills by 15.8% over three years \u2014 costing the average Big Apple resident an eye-watering $600 more per year by 2028.<\/p>\n

Concerned about increased costs, Hochul has called for delaying the implementation of New York\u2019s Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act of 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The law requires a 40% reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an 85% reduction by 2050, both from 1990 levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also requires 70% renewable electricity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n

The Climate Investment Account is one of several funds created to receive revenues from the state\u2019s \u201cCap and Investment\u201d program. This program requires companies to pay a price for the pollution they generate and encourages large-scale greenhouse gas producers to transition to carbon-free energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t Kathy Hochul\u2019s money\u2014it\u2019s your money,\u201d Slater said. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Climate Investment Account must invest at least 67% of its proceeds to curb New York\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\n

Two other funds were also created to mitigate the costs of green energy mandates for consumers and small businesses.<\/p>\n

The Hochul campaign shot back, asserting that Blakeman was full of hot air while tying him to President Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Donald Trump jacked up New Yorkers\u2019 energy bills, Bruce Blakeman didn\u2019t fight back \u2013 he cheered him on, just like he celebrated Trump\u2019s expensive tariffs raising prices on everything from groceries to clothing and opposed renewable energy projects that would save New Yorkers $77 million a month,\u201d said Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is simple: Blakeman has consistently chosen higher costs for New Yorkers while Governor Hochul has lowered them \u2013 cutting middle-class taxes, putting money back in New Yorkers\u2019 pockets, and investing in reliability and affordability,\u201dadded the Hochul rep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman wants to liquidate a dormant New York State \u201cgreen\u201d energy fund worth billions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1626,3431,4762,2969,19475,426,57,9,11,10,49,51,50,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-191696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-bruce-blakeman","9":"tag-climate","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-funding","12":"tag-green-energy","13":"tag-kathy-hochul","14":"tag-metro","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-headlines","17":"tag-new-york-news","18":"tag-new-york-state","19":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","20":"tag-new-york-state-news","21":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191696","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=191696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}