New York's climate mandates aren't driving up utility bills, regulator says

And former Gov. Andrew M.Cuomo was accused of Islamophobia Thursday.

Good afternoon — It’s Thursday and Boston Cream Pie Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• The head of New York’s utility regulator told state lawmakers Thursday that renewable energy projects aren’t driving utility bill increases.

• Wall Street profits doubled last year, a new report from the state comptroller’s office found.

• New York is proposing new regulations for the RAPID Act, which is supposed to streamline renewable energy projects.

• Empire State Development has finally published proposed regulations on tax credits for local news outlets.

• Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was accused of Islamophobia Thursday for comments he made about Zohran Mamdani.

• A new bill would extend the state’s limits on where ICE officers are prohibited from arresting immigrants.

Names in today’s CapCon: Rory Christian, Phil Palemsano, Didi Barrett, Brian Manktelow, Sarahana Shrestha, Tom DiNapoli, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Kathy Hochul, Tony Simone Nathalia Fernandez, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Jessica Ramos, Carrie Woerner, Rob Rolison

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Public Service Commission Chair Rory Christian

⚡ New York’s energy transition isn’t what’s driving up utility bills, PSC chair says

The state Assembly took on the tough task Thursday of trying to figure out how to stop utility bills from spiking for ratepayers as demand for electricity rises.

The hearing was supposed to be focused on the impact that data centers and other facilities that require large amounts of energy will have on those bills. But it turned into a hearing about the state’s transition away from fossil fuels.

The state’s energy grid is expecting a surge in demand due to those kinds of facilities over the next couple of years, said Rory Christian, chair of the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility regulator.

“We’ve seen a surge in large load interconnection requests,” Christian said. Those requests total a new demand for 5 GW by 2028. Just for reference, New York reached 6 GW in solar energy last year.

But the developers of those projects, Christian said, are responsible for funding the infrastructure requirements that would come with them. That’s led to situations in which some developers couldn’t afford that cost.

Assembly Energy Chair Didi Barrett, a Democrat from the Hudson Valley who hosted the hearing, asked Christian if that rule was in law or regulations but Christian didn’t know.

“This policy predates my time at the commission,” Christian said. “It’s something that we at the commission have adhered to for decades, at least.”

Some of the main industry players in data centers were invited to the hearing but declined to testify, Barrett said. Those included Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft.

Lawmakers used much of their questioning of Christian in an attempt to reinforce their own policy positions, namely how the state should be sourcing its energy.

Democrats defended renewable energy projects while Republicans expressed concern over reliability of the state’s grid without fossil fuels. It’s nothing you haven’t heard before if you follow political and legislative activity on this issue.

Christian was asked by Assemblyman Phil Palmesano, the Republican ranker on the committee, if the state’s renewable energy mandates and rush toward electrification were the main contributors to the rise in ratepayer costs.

It’s not those mandates as much as it is the aging energy infrastructure that has to be maintained, Christian said.