Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake) and a group of Upstate Assembly Democrats, representing cities, suburbs and rural communities, have proposed solutions to immediately address the critical challenges posed by dramatically increasing energy prices. Life in New York must be available. Families and businesses, small and large, are receiving energy bills that are substantially higher than ever before. Higher energy prices impact family finances directly and indirectly through higher costs for food and other goods. The time to act is now to deliver immediate relief and begin to address the root causes driving costs up.

In a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, the group proposes a set of actions to provide immediate financial relief, coupled with a path to long-term structural changes that will systemically lower energy prices. In a letter to Governor Hochul, the proposal outlines the following short- and long-term actions:

• Pause state taxes on utility bills.
• Return, via bill credits to all New Yorkers, previously collected, unused Clean Energy Funds that utility companies hold in escrow.
• Reduce costs to ratepayers by increasing the percentage of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) funding used to implement programs funded by ratepayers.
• Return all excess revenues above the utilities approved return on equity (ROE) to ratepayers (A.8150).
• Create an Office of Energy and Equity and Energy Affordability Fund (A.9621).

In the short term these actions can deliver immediate bill relief to families that are seeing their monthly utility costs climb ever higher. Longer term solutions, like the ones proposed, are needed to address the factors that are contributing to higher costs. The signatories on the letter to Governor Hochul look forward to partnering with her and with others in the State Legislature to address the current energy affordability crisis for New Yorkers.