Albany, N.Y. (WBEN) - As the debate rages on over the proposed natural gas ban as part of Gov. Kathy Hochul's state budget, New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, members of the Senate Republican Conference and statewide energy stakeholders unveiled a package of smart energy policies to pursue a cleaner energy future on Monday.
The plan from the Senate GOP puts affordability and reliability first for New York ratepayers, in sharp contrast to some of the other proposals coming out of Albany.
"There was just a poll that I saw released, the results from Siena, that had affordability as one of the top issues on New Yorkers' minds. That term gets tossed around a lot, I've heard the Governor talk about affordability, we have to make New York more affordable. She's 100% right, and this conference agrees 100% that we have to make New York more affordable," said Sen. Ortt on Monday. "However, that's sadly where the consensus ends, because what she proposes will not make New York more affordable. It will make New York more expensive.
"It will make living here more expensive. Heating your home will be more expensive, retrofitting your home to make it all-electric will cost New Yorkers between $25,000-$50,000 per-home, depending on the home."
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Outlined in the Governor’s budget proposal, Albany’s climate agenda would prohibit the installation of natural gas, propane and fuel oil hookups in new and existing buildings no later than 2035. These bans includes deadlines of:
- Dec. 31, 2025: For new one family residential buildings of any height or multi-family residential buildings of three stories or fewer.
- Dec. 31, 2028: For new multi-family residential buildings more than three stories or new commercial buildings.
- Jan. 1, 2030: For existing one family residential buildings of any height or multi-family buildings of three stories or fewer.
- Jan. 1, 2035: For existing multi-family residential buildings more than three stories or commercial buildings.
As the State Republicans explain, the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) would have authority establish an economy-wide “Cap and Invest” program for greenhouse gas emissions, which will mean new taxes and extra burdens on ratepayers and businesses.
"'Cap and tax' - I know they like to call it 'cap and invest', I just call it what it is, 'cap and tax' - will be an additional tax on companies and employers here in the State of New York that they do not face in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and many other states around the country. That will chase jobs out of New York, it will chase those employers out of New York, it'll make their costs go up," Sen. Ortt explains. "Her energy policies, the Governor and my colleagues across the aisle, their energy proposals do not make New York more affordable. They do not make it more affordable to be in New York. In fact, it'll be more expensive, and our energy supply will be less reliable."
State Republicans also point out the Executive Budget’s “Public Renewables ‘Lite’” proposal would give authority to the New York Power Authority to plan, design, develop, finance, construct, own, operate, maintain, improve, alone or jointly with other entities, renewable energy generating projects. This would effectively allow for all-government takeovers of private sector business projects, and chart a path where state government becomes the only supplier of electricity in New York.
"At a time when our economy remains unstable, and businesses and families continue to flee the state, the Governor has offered to put an outright ban on affordable, reliable energy such as natural gas. She wants to electrify all new buildings, we talked about cap and tax, and, of course, the Public Renewable Proposal... that would give the state, in this case the New York Power Authority, the complete oversight over every aspect of these types of projects," Sen. Ortt said. "If there is one [thing] that Albany bureaucrats have proven time-and-time again, it's they cannot do anything more efficiently and effectively than our private sector. I am very, very concerned about this proposal, as is our conference."
The New York Senate Republican Conference has proposed several affordable solutions in pursuing a cleaner energy future, such as:
- Independent cost studies and full transparency.
- Supporting diverse energy sources.
- Keeping needed power supply online to ensure reliability of the grid.
- Repealing and opposing any anti-market mandates on consumers.
"These policies go on-and-on from our colleagues and from our Governor, and our conference remains steadfastly opposed to them, and offers, I think, common sense alternatives not only to make our environment cleaner, but also our energy supply more diverse. We need to have a diversified energy portfolio. That is the only common sense, real serious proposal," Sen. Ortt said.
"When you're in the middle of a crisis, of a storm, there is no bad form of energy. You want every form of energy available to you. That's what a strong state does, that's what a strong country does. We seem to be going in the other direction, but this conference, again, remains opposed and offers alternatives supporting, again, diverse energy sources. Keeping needed power supply online to ensure reliability of our grid, repealing and opposing anti-market mandates on consumers, and, of course, independent cost studies and full transparency."
Sen. Ortt believes that the proposed budget plan to ban natural gas is going to cause real and permanent damage to the New York economy, to the state's energy supply, and also its reliability.
"How much more unaffordable are we going to make New York State to institute these policies that, I would tell you, are going to have little-to-no impact on climate change?," he said. "New York State accounts for .04% of emissions, global emissions. .04%. Do we really think that we're going to change the global climate from right here in New York? No, we're not. ... We're going to drive more people out of this state with no real benefit."
Gov. Hochul was in Buffalo on Monday to speak on the new proposed state budget, saying her administration in Albany can no longer wait to deal with the effects of climate change. However, she acknowledges this process has to be done in a thoughtful way that is not rushed.
"This transition is overdue, but we're also making sure we have money to help with any rate increases," said Gov. Hochul responding to direct questions from WBEN. "My budget actually has money to help individuals meet those needs, and making sure that we continue renewable projects. We have 112 renewable projects underway right now, but there will be no transition until the transmission lines are done that are going to be able to bring alternative, ultimately, lower cost power to everyone's homes."
Hochul says the timeline in which the energy transition will begin is being worked on, as the current initiatives that are underway being just launched recently.
"We have the largest transmission project coming down from Hydro-Quebec to bring thousands and thousands of homes hydroelectric power, as well as wind and solar coming in from elsewhere, as well as Upstate New York, where these projects are well underway. So I want people to know that we're aggressively going into developing the alternative forms of energy, but nothing's going to happen until we're ready to make that transition," she said. "Ultimately, people's bills will be lower. The cost of using renewables is much lower than fossil fuel-generated power. But right now, the transition is what's complicated."
The Governor says there has been a lot of falsehoods and narratives about the whole energy initiative that are just not truthful from those who object the proposed bill.
"Obviously, sources would be the companies and the organizations that represent those companies that are going to be transitioned out. That is what's going on here, and the public is listening to this, but we have to give the counterargument on how important it is for us to get to a different environment," Gov. Hochul said. "We're the first generation that's really feeling the effects of climate change. Truly, we're seeing that with our storms and what's happening all-across the country. We're also the last generation that can do something about it. So we'll do it in a smart way. A way that transitions in the right timeframe, but also, shame on us if we don't take these steps now. This is for our kids and their kids."
As Gov. Hochul acknowledges the unknowns in the clarity of the exact numbers at this time, because the transition point has not started, she believes everything will come into a better light when the offsets that are being offered from the state government to reduce the burden on ratepayers is being considered.
"I think that's what's missing in the telling of this story, simply looking at numbers without understanding that we're working to get an offset from the state in this transition period," Gov. Hochul explained. "Ultimately, if you're going to be honest about the people that you're telling news to, tell them then the long-term, it will be cheaper for them. It's just a transition time. Ultimately, the bills will be lower, and that is a good outcome."
As both sides of the table continue to debate the proposed natural gas ban in Gov. Hochul's state budget, WBEN political strategist Jack O'Donnell of O'Donnell and Associates says this issue in Albany may only get more heated in the coming days and weeks.
"Certainly we've heard increasingly from folks who are upset about this proposal," said O'Donnell on Monday. "I think we saw a Siena poll this morning that said that New Yorkers have some real concerns about the proposal, and also that New Yorkers care a lot about affordability. So all of those things are combining to make these gas proposals, these energy proposals from the Governor even hotter as we head into the April 1 budget deadline."
When it came to the State Senate Republicans' announcement on Monday, O'Donnell feels that made things very loud and clear that they want to see some changes to this proposal if it is to be part of the budget.
"I'm not sure exactly all the details of what the Republicans are looking for other than they absolutely want to keep natural gases as one of the options. I'd like to hear a little more detail about what they're proposing," O'Donnell said. "But the reality is, I'm in Albany today, I'm walking the halls, and there are flyers everywhere from advocates, saying don't let the fossil fuel industry deceive you, don't let them trick you. So there's some really loud voices on both sides of this, and the reality is we've got a Democratic Governor, a supermajority in the Democratic State Senate, a supermajority of Democrats in the State Assembly. While I think Republicans are approaching this strategically very well, they let off not by saying no, but saying there are other options to have a greener and cleaner future. So strategically, I think they're saying a lot of the right things, but I'm not sure it's changing much here in Albany."
While O'Donnell thinks broad support in the Legislature for a move to all-renewables or a renewable, greener future is very strong, it remains to be seen whether or not anything that the Republicans have pushed back on will be altered and agreed upon by the April 1 deadline for the budget.
"The Republicans today also pushed back on the Governor's proposal around Public Renewables under the power authority. That failed in the floor of the Legislature at the end of session last year. So there may be pieces of this that don't get enacted," he said. "We've also heard from a number of folks with organized labor about how a number of the Governor's proposals maybe don't include full labor protections. That could generate a little more pushback, but right now, we're just in the budget hearings phase, we'll see, what we call 'One House Bills' from both houses of the Legislature probably in 10 days or so. That'll give us our first real indication of how much synergy there is between the Governor and the majorities in both houses."
If there is continued debate on the proposed natural gas ban that sees no compromised being reached by the budget deadline, could it be something that gets tabled from this year's budget and discussed at some other time down the road? O'Donnell doesn't feel that is likely to happen.
"I expect big pieces of this will be passed as part of the budget, and in large part because it's not the end. There are a bunch of different deadlines for when things actually are phased out, prohibited or replaced," O'Donnell said. "I expect this to get passed, or at least most of it to pass, and then the debate to continue well up until those deadlines."
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