John Howard, former chairman and current member of the New York Public Service Commission, warns that New Yorkers will have to pay “hundreds of billions of dollars” in higher utility bills as a result of the “Green New Deal” inspired plan.

Howard also chastised lawmakers for hiding the true cost of the bill. In a PSC session, Howard said former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-run legislature “totally obfuscated” the costs of the plan because the truth would have made the initiative unpopular and difficult to pass.

The New York Post reports:

The law, which Cuomo signed in a ceremony with Al Gore at his side, requires New York to slash greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 and no less than 85% by 2050 by transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, solar and wind. The state Climate Action Council, meanwhile, is charged with developing a plan to put the state on a path toward zero carbon emissions.

Lawmakers, Howard said, refused to directly vote to raise taxes to pay for the capital investments required to develop cleaner energy alternatives to fossil fuels — and left the PSC to be the fall guy.

The commission — which regulates power utilities — was tasked with approving rate increases to pay for the capital investments required to comply with the new green-deal inspired law.

Con Edison and other utilities will pass on those costs to customers.

Howard exclaimed at the PSC meeting, “I hope my colleagues on this commission understand that responsibility falls to us exclusively — to the tune of hundreds, not a couple — but hundreds of billions of dollars.”

“The legislature, either through its silence or total lack of actions, has given this commission nearly the exclusive responsibility to reach into New Yorkers’ pockets to pay for the CLCPA mandates,” added Howard.

Howard also stated how poor the timing is: “our entire state economy is shaky … the upstate economy is shakier.”
Other PSC members including former state Senators David Valesky and John Maggiore also warned of dangers to rely upon utility rate hikes to pay for New York’s green new deal.