“With the release of their final scoping plan, the Climate Action Council (CAC) today has made it crystal clear that they had no intention of listening to, nor addressing, the concerns of thousands of New Yorkers and businesses. Since the CAC was tasked with creating a plan by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), they have failed to answer critical questions surrounding costs, affordability, reliability and the far-reaching impact this plan will have on all New Yorkers and our state’s economy as a whole.

“Clean and renewable energy should certainly be a part of our state’s energy portfolio and policy; however, affordability and reliability are of equal importance and must be addressed.My colleagues and I in the Assembly and Senate Minority Conferences have repeatedly called for, and it is imperative that, a full and transparent cost-benefit analysis (A.7524) take place to let our citizens know the true and total actual financial costs this will have on them, our business community and our state before moving forward with the full implementation of the CLCPA.The CAC has repeatedly ignored our requests and their Integration Analysis clearly did not provide these transparent details and cost impacts on ratepayers – seniors, families, farmers, small businesses and manufacturers.

 “It is estimated that every homeowner could pay more than $35,000 in costs to fully retrofit, convert and electrify their homes to meet the mandated requirements of this plan. Not only are the costs astronomical, but organizations tasked with ensuring the reliability of the grid, to keep the lights and heat on, like the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) and New York State Reliability Council (NYSRC), have serious concerns about the impact of overhauling our energy system and its effects on grid reliability. Quickly transitioning from a reliable fuel diversity portfolio to a single energy source of full electrification will certainly challenge our grid’s reliability and infrastructure. Full electrification will shift our peak energy use from summer to winter, leaving it more vulnerable to weather disruption and outages. Widespread power outages and blackouts are extremely concerning, especially during the cold winter months, and this plan fails to address these significant concerns.

“New Yorkers are in the midst of an affordability crisis. Inflation, the highest taxes in the country and now, a radical energy policy that only impacts New York, will only further accelerate the continued exodus of residents and businesses from our state. I will continue to publicly highlight the deep flaws of this plan and I urge Gov. Hochul and all of my legislative colleagues, Majority and Minority, to pause and ensure that critical affordability and reliability issues and concerns are thoroughly addressed before we move forward with the full implementation of the CLCPA.”