ALBANY, NY - Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick & Members of the Senate Republican Conference today sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging the inclusion of two pieces of legislation in the enacted budget that would provide real utility relief at a time when New Yorkers desperately need it.

The first piece of legislation, S.8461A, introduced by Senator Tom O’Mara would provide nearly $3 billion in bill credits to ratepayers using unspent funds collected from ratepayers by NYSERDA with PSC approval for green energy projects. The Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and Financial Plan for NYSERDA detailed that NYSERDA had a total net position of $2,045,624,000 at the end of 2025. There was also $770 million being held in escrow by utilities for requisition by NYSERDA at the end of 2025 per the Department of Public Service.

The second, S.8463, introduced by Senator Rob Rolison would establish a one-year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday and a two-year green energy gas tax holiday, which would provide real and meaningful relief to ratepayers that are paying residential electric rates 50% higher than the national average.

The call for the inclusion of these pieces of legislation in the final enacted budget comes on the heels of a recent report from NYSERDA warning of increases in utility costs in order to keep up with the green energy mandates laid out in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

“The amount of unspent funds collected by NYSERDA has grown significantly since Comptroller DiNapoli first pointed to this overcollection in his July 2024 report New York State’s Clean Energy Fund. These funds should not continue to be held to protect against the volatility of collections particularly as the collections are continuous and replenish needed funds. These funds have no impact on the proposed state budget,” the letter reads.

“Once again, Albany talks about affordability, but falls short when it comes to delivering real relief. These bills would put money back in New Yorkers’ pockets by returning billions in unused funds and temporarily suspending burdensome taxes and surcharges. At a time when residents face some of the highest energy costs in the nation, there is no justification for letting these dollars sit idle. They belong to our residents, not in state accounts,” said Senator Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick 

“Since you became Governor in 2021, $88.7 billion has been invested in clean energy programs with the funding mainly paid by ratepayers on their utility bills. The arrears numbers indicate that ratepayer funding has reached its capacity. Immediate relief needs to be made available to ratepayers. The energy transition needs to move forward with reasonable and achievable goals that are affordable. The ratepayer cannot bear the whole burden,” the letter concludes.

 A full copy of the letter is attached.

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