Prepare yourself for a startling revelation before you receive your next Con Ed billing statement: Rates are on the verge of skyrocketing, beginning next month, with a projected doubling over the next two years. If you align with progressive ideologies, it may be difficult to express dissatisfaction. After all, what did you expect as a result of your anti-fossil fuel, profligate spending, and anti-business agenda?
The state’s Public Service Commission recently approved electricity and gas rate hikes of 9.1% and 8.4%, respectively, set to take effect in August. These increases will be followed by additional jumps in rates through 2025. Consequently, average monthly bills will double from approximately $70 to $140, resulting in an extra $840 expenditure per year.
In response to this dire situation, the City Council has written a letter urging Governor Kathy Hochul to utilize her executive powers to mitigate the burden. The letter emphasizes the “already dire affordability crisis” and expresses concerns about impoverished New Yorkers. It is worth noting that this affordability crisis is partly the result of left-leaning policies that hinder housing and fuel inflation.
The question arises: Why is Con Ed raising rates? While it is true that company executives enjoyed a pay increase in 2022, with CEO Timothy Cawley receiving a 4% raise in base compensation, the primary driver behind these hikes is the implementation of environmentally conscious policies at both state and federal levels. The crackdown on fossil fuel usage, infrastructure upgrades to facilitate the energy shift, and excessive taxation of utilities all contribute to increased costs that are ultimately passed on to consumers.
This week, the Biden administration dealt another blow to domestic energy production by raising costs for drillers operating on federal land. Royalty rates will climb from 12.5% to nearly 17%, while minimum per-acre lease bids will quintuple. This policy change is projected to cost producers approximately $1.8 billion over the next eight years, with the potential for even more cost hikes in the future. This approach discourages future exploration and escalates extraction costs, all while those who bemoan Con Ed rate hikes inexplicably praise these actions.
Furthermore, the same proponents of progressive policies who complain about Con Ed rate increases also applaud the state’s ambitious yet costly Climate Leadership and Action Plan. Introduced by Albany Democrats and signed into law by former Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2019, this plan aims to achieve 100% emissions-free power generation in New York by 2040. The costly upgrades required to facilitate this transition, despite the fact that it has not materialized, significantly contribute to Con Ed’s rising costs.
These developments follow Cuomo’s detrimental ban on fracking, a potentially cleaner fuel source for power, and his decision to close the Indian Point nuclear plant, a significant source of emissions-free energy. Furthermore, approximately 21% of the average consumer’s electric bill is allocated to cover Con Ed’s New York state property taxes. As anyone with basic mathematical skills could have predicted, these circumstances inevitably lead to increased power costs for consumers across the board, disproportionately affecting low-income families who are least equipped to absorb such financial burdens. Unfortunately, these consequences are rarely considered by affluent proponents of environmental initiatives who naively believe that the wealthy can perpetually subsidize elevated costs.
Ultimately, progressive fantasies regarding advanced wind turbines and solar panels will not result in cost reductions; instead, they will perpetually propel costs upward, with the potential to trigger blackouts. In such instances, no one will be required to pay a dime, as they will be sitting in darkness without air conditioning.
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