Albany, N.Y., May 8—Majority members on the state Senate Energy Committee this week blocked six pieces of legislation from advancing through the legislative process that would provide immediate relief and transparency to New York State ratepayers continuing to face skyrocketing utility costs. 

Among the measures the majority stopped from moving to a vote by the full Senate was a key piece of legislation (S6412A), known as the “Ratepayer Disclosure and Transparency Act,” sponsored by Senator Tom O’Mara (R-C, Big Flats) that if enacted would, for the first time, give ratepayers a transparent view of how monthly, state-imposed surcharges on their utility bills are being used to fund various clean energy programs, including initiatives mandated under the “Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act” (CLCPA) of 2019. 

O’Mara, a member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, said, “New York State is spending billions of dollars, delivered into state and utility coffers from various state-imposed monthly surcharges on ratepayers. Albany Democrats have pushed forward with a misguided climate agenda without providing any meaningful cost-benefit analysis and by keeping ratepayers in the dark about how their money is being used. Ratepayers need relief now, but they also deserve to know everything about the burden they are shouldering. The ‘Ratepayer Disclosure and Transparency Act’ I’m sponsoring would give ratepayers a clear view. It would require utility companies to provide a detailed breakdown of the costs associated with state-mandated programs by adding a line-item expense report to ratepayers’ utility bills to ensure greater transparency and to ensure that ratepayers can see exactly how their payments go towards funding the Albany Democrat climate agenda. The Senate Republican Conference has repeatedly offered alternative plans and proposals that we believe are more focused on affordability, feasibility, and reliability, and which, if enacted, would better protect ratepayers from the ever-rising costs they're struggling under now. New York's ratepayers need relief and transparency now and Albany Democrats keep saying ‘No!’"

The additional measures rejected by the Senate Majority on the Energy Committee, all of which are sponsored by members of the Senate Minority Conference, this week were:

> S.1167) (Senator Mattera) to repeal certain provisions of the energy law and the executive law, in relation to the prohibition on fossil fuel equipment and building systems in new buildings;

> S.1173 (Senator Mattera) to establish the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act Cost Task Force;

> S.5250 (Senator Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick) to amend the public service law to establish limits on surcharge increases; direct a study of the costs associated with recent environmental and energy-related laws and the value of stranded utility assets resulting in discontinuance and/or abandonment of utility gas infrastructure; and impose a moratorium on new energy taxes, fees and regulations;

> S.7075 (Senator Walczyk) to prohibit the imposition of a system benefits charge on ratepayers' utility bills; and

> S.7710 (Senator Chan) to prohibit the construction and maintenance of certain energy storage systems within five hundred feet of a school or dwelling in a city with a population of one million or more.

O’Mara said the legislation, following Senate rules, was placed on today’s committee agenda through a “motion for committee consideration” made by Senate Minority Conference sponsors. Majority members on the committee declined to move the bills to the floor for a vote of the full Senate, thereby effectively preventing them from being acted on during the current legislative session.