NYSERDA: Renewable energy law will continue to drive up utility costs

By Matt Freeze

A letter written by New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) President and CEO Doreen Harris said the state’s current energy laws will continue to create upward pressure on energy prices into the future.

The memo was recently released by Assemblyman Joe Angelino, who said the letter serves as a written acknowledgment that the state knows the policies will continue to increase costs. Angelino represents an area including part of Broome County.

According to the memo, gasoline prices could increase by up to $2.23 per gallon, an additional $16.96 per MMBtu for natural gas, and comparable increases for diesel and other fuels.

In the letter, Harris said if the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) is fully implemented as planned, upstate households using oil and natural gas would see costs in excess of $4,000 per year.

NSYERDA said that even with affordability benefits, that still represents an increase of over $2,400.

Further, Harris’s letter to Director of State Operations Jackie Bray said the acceleration of clean energy deployment as planned for in 2019’s CLCPA “is infeasible.”

In particular, NYSERDA found that there is a lack of market capacity to deliver the amount of renewable energy needed to meet demand, and that it is difficult to imagine how utility stakeholders could adequately produce enough energy to meet the demand required by a $28 billion investment. 

Additionally, Harris said that even if those production needs were met, the goal set in the law would not be hit until well into the future.

NYSERDA said that regardless of how demand could be met, the price models would “lead to high burdens on New York households.”

Likewise, the estimates show an increase in energy costs for small and medium businesses of about 46%, with the cost of operating a delivery truck, for example, increasing by over 60%.

(Matt Freeze is a senior writer for the Sayre Morning Times.)