N.Y. leaders go to their corners over utility costs

As New York state legislative leaders this week attempted to shift the spotlight currently trained on the ongoing utility crisis to a collection of proposals intended to lower costs and protect the state’s climate goals, Gov. Kathy Hochul turned it yet again to a discussion over rollbacks to the state’s 2019 emissions-reducing climate law.

Hochul continues to insist that an impending judicial deadline related to the state’s botched roll out of a cap-and-invest program could send rates skyrocketing even further.

“I need time. I need more time,” Hochul told Politico’s Nick Reisman at the outlet’s New York Agenda Albany Summit when asked what she wants to see happen with the law.

After what can only be described as a six-month soft launch of the idea, Hochul was frank in her assessment of the situation but still noncommittal on any specific proposal.

“I think that’s probably the best vehicle given that’s where all of the focus is,” she said of making changes as part of the state budget. “I would have loved to have been the governor to say, ‘We met all of those goals, we did it, we did it, we did it, we did it.’ We just need some breathing room.”

The governor has floated changing the dates by which the state must meet certain goals and the formula by which success is measured.

In her comments, Hochul leaned heavily on a recent NYSERDA memo that forecast increased utility costs if the law isn’t changed. She said a judge’s ruling in a case brought by environmental advocates over New York’s failure to implement the cap-and-invest program– which would generate necessary revenue to keep the state’s goals affordable — could force compliance, and she argues the memo’s worst case scenario, shortly after the April 1 budget deadline.

“That will go into effect under the judge’s rule if something is not done during this budget time. That’s the reality I’m facin — I have an April deadline,” she said.

The conversation continues to overshadow efforts by the Senate and Assembly to tackle climate issues in their one-house budgets this week and their rejection of the memo.

In its package, the state Senate included multiple initiatives perceived as an effort to pre-empt the governor’s impending proposal, including legislation to jumpstart solar, incentives for zero-emission vehicles and heat pumps, and additional funding for weatherization and electrification. Unlike Hochul, both the Senate and Assembly also included $1 billion for the Sustainable Futures Fund, which is intended to support climate-related programming much to the satisfaction of environmental advocates who say that funding is crucial in the absense of cap and invest revenue.

“We do not 100% agree with the governor on everything, but we have expanded programs to deal with affordability,” state Sen. Liz Krueger said diplomatically after being asked if the package was an intentional effort to ward off a budget fight over rollbacks.

Last week, Krueger led 29 of 41 Democratic state senators in sending a letter to Hochul “categorically” rejecting climate law rollbacks, insisting the NYSERDA memo is flawed. Environmental advocates have argued that a combination of the federal government’s stance on climate issues, aging fossil fuel infrastructure and supply chain volatility are driving up prices rather than the state’s ambitious climate goals. They have also insisted that the climate law allows for flexbility the governor has yet to deploy. 

Krueger noted that she cannot speak for the Senate as a whole, though Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who was also on hand to address reporters, did not dispute her comments and has indicated opposition in recent weeks.

“We do not have any interest in negotiating the CLCPA. That is not a solution to our problem and I’m very confident in that,” Krueger said.

In the Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters there is nothing in the lower chamber’s budget that should be construed as a warning shot at Hochul’s climate push. But the Assembly did address utility rates in multiple ways, including proposing Protecting Our Wallets Energy Rebates, or POWER checks.

Eligible ratepayers making below $150,000 would receive a $500 check, while those making between $150,000 and $300,000 would receive a $300 check. The $2.6 billion in relief is intended to help New Yorkers struggling with their utility bills.

As Albany braces for another late state budget, Heastie told reporters Tuesday that Hochul has still not come forward with an official proposal.

“The CLCPA was born in the Assembly, and when we got great partners in the Senate we passed our law,” he said. “At this point, the governor has not given us any specific proposal.”

Heastie was a face of the frustration many lawmakers felt toward Hochul last year when she proposed changes to the state’s discovery laws which dragged the budget process out by several weeks, following previous battles over her efforts to roll back bail reform.

Despite stiff opposition from many lawmakers — including his own environmental conservation committee chair Deborah Glick, Heastie didn’t seem to anticipate the same level of conflict.

“I just don’t see these policy discussions rising to the level of difficulty as the others. There will be some difficulty, whether it’s SEQRA or the insurance changes or any discussion about changing the CLCPA. Those are going to be tough conversations, but I don’t know that it rises to the same level as discovery or bail reform in difficulty of discussion — not importance of the issue,” he said, noting that doesn’t mean there won’t be pushback. “I just think those were a lot more difficult.”

Typically choosing not to engage in policy proposals ahead of negotiations, the Assembly omitted the governor’s proposed changes to the state’s environmental quality review law, or SEQRA, in a pitch intended to spur housing development. The Senate, meanwhile, swapped out Hochul’s idea for a bill of its own which is similar but is considered to be less broad and more friendly to upstate concerns.