As the temperatures begin to fall across the Capital Region, furnaces will soon be running longer, lights will be on earlier and families will once again be bracing for higher energy bills. For many New Yorkers, however, this is no longer just the normal seasonal increase that comes with colder weather. The cost of keeping a home warm has become another major strain on household budgets already stretched by groceries, housing, taxes and nearly every other basic expense. New Yorkers deserve to understand why.

Since the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or CLCPA, was enacted in 2019, New York has pursued an aggressive transition of its energy system. The law requires major reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and a significant shift toward renewable and zero-emission energy. Meeting those goals requires substantial new investments in generation, transmission, energy-efficiency programs and the electric grid. The Public Service Commission has continued authorizing investments designed to advance those objectives, including $1 billion annually for energy-efficiency and beneficial-electrification programs from 2026 through 2030.

Those policies come with costs, and I believe New York has moved too........

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