The leaves are changing and people soon will be turning their thermostats up to heat their homes as the crisp fall air begins to turn colder.

Unfortunately, we’re all paying more to heat and power our homes.

That’s because New York has some of the highest energy costs in the country.

New Yorkers now pay the 8th highest electricity bills in the nation and according to the Empire Center, residential electric rates are 50 percent higher than the national average and nearly 8 percent higher than a year ago.

These surging energy bills are due in large part to a myriad of what I’ve railed and voted against — onerous and misguided state taxes, fees and new mandates from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that have been passed down to consumers. This includes Governor Hochul’s CLCPA law which has taken 4.4 gigawatts of power off the electric grid and only added 2.9 gigawatts of so-called green energy, leading to higher utility bills for everyone.

To be clear, I have never voted for a utility rate hike and never will!

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), who........

© The Saratogian