State Sen. Patty Ritchie is expecting the “Recharge New York” bill she is cosponsoring will pass the State Senate later today.
She said the bill will help upstate businesses create jobs and help farmers reduce their energy costs.
“I am very pleased to see these vital reforms moving forward through the state legislature,” said Senator Ritchie. “It’s long past time that New York State recognizes that our farms and our agriculture industry is vital to revitalizing the upstate economy.”
“I particularly want to thank State Sen. George Maziarz, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, for his efforts to make sure that the needs of upstate’s businesses and our family farms were protected in this legislation,” she said.
“Recharge New York is different from the Power for Jobs law it replaces,” she said. “It allows companies to develop long term plans because they’ll be able to contract for power for seven years, instead of worrying whether they’ll lose their allocation every year. If you want to see businesses investing and hiring more employees, you have to provide them with long term stability so they know what their power costs will be.”
“This bill also helps both small and large farms for the first time. The new law for the first time provides a discount to small farms that pay the residential rate," she said. "Larger farms that pay commercial rates are also ekligible.”
“As the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, helping the Legislature to recognize the importance of incorporating agriculture into this business program was critically important to me and to family farms across the state,” she said.
The bill is scheduled to be voted on by the New York State Senate today. It is expected to win passage.
