Credit: Getty Images.

As utility bills rise across New York, state lawmakers are bracing for a problem of their own making. They see how frustrated ratepayers are with costs climbing faster than household budgets, and they know that with every legislative seat on the ballot next year, someone will take the blame.

As a result, legislators are already pointing fingers at the Public Service Commission, the utilities or any other convenient target — anything to avoid acknowledging their central role in driving up our monthly bills.

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The reality they are deflecting from is simple: The Legislature has been adding billions of dollars in new mandates and climate-related spending to ratepayers through utility bills, rather than through the state budget process.........

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