NY's stalled energy policy undermines our economic development |
Energy policy is poised to take center stage nationally in 2026. Here in New York, it already has — largely because of dramatic cost increases imposed on ratepayers and the negative impact on economic development driven by state policy choices and legislative mandates. Affordability can no longer be a buzzword deployed after the fact. The cost implications of energy policy must be part of the conversation before new mandates are enacted, not after they appear on monthly utility bills.
One way to blunt rising energy costs is economic growth. A growing economy spreads fixed costs, strengthens the tax base, supports investment in infrastructure and drives wage growth, giving New Yorkers higher incomes that can offset rising energy costs. But in New York, economic development itself is increasingly constrained by poor planning and policy choices around electric infrastructure and generation. Across the state, critical new projects are delayed or downsized because the electric system cannot support new demand. That failure is costing upstate potentially thousands of........