I would like to begin by thanking Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for appointing me to the State Energy Planning Board; NYSERDA President Doreen Harris for her leadership; and the hardworking staff from NYSERDA, my own office, and of all of the state agencies for their rigorous research and presentations over these past 15 months..

As the only elected official on this State Planning Board, I have seen my role on the board as representing the voice of the consumer – upstate and downstate, rural and urban – and as such I have remained focused throughout on affordability, reliability and transparency for ratepayers.

There is no denying that energy costs are a big part of the affordability crisis we are currently experiencing across our diverse state. Even in the year and a half that we have gone through this planning process, energy prices have soared, affecting everyone,but most acutely low-income New Yorkers– who have struggled to make ends meet even with access to affordabilityprograms – as well as thenext tranche of ratepayers – those who live on the tipping point and may be one big expense, i.e. replacing a major appliance, a healthcare crisis, or a large auto repair bill away from being able to pay their bills.These folks generally do not qualify for any existing energy affordability programs.

As we see one request after the other for double-digit rate increases from utilities, it is abundantly clear that our current regulatory framework for utilities is not working. It is time to explore alternatives to the “cost of service” utility system which was designed nearly a century ago and which encourages building more infrastructure, and then charging ratepayers. Other approaches like “performance-based regulations“ seem more in sync with the state’s decarbonization, resilience and affordability goal and compensate utilities based on their performance against pre-defined metrics, rather than just on their costs.

To further ensure that ratepayers aren’t unfairly saddled with increased energy costs, it seems time to create a new customer rate classification for large energy users like AI and data centers as outlined in the AC/DC Act (A.9039-A).

Importantly, the Final Energy Plan recognizes the need to provide more robust support to help New Yorkers with our energy transition.These include expanded energy affordability programs like the Green Affordable Pre-electrification (GAP) program; financial incentives for the decarbonization of buildings and vehicles; and additional funding to meet our constituents where they are to help us work together to reach our climate goals.

Speaking of climate goals : Since the only climate goal that the state has successfully met ahead of schedule is distributed solar, we could build on that strength and expand the goal for distributed solar to 20 GWs by 2035 (as outlined in ASAP Act (A.8758) and address interconnection issues to get these projects online more quickly. Further, I would also urge the state to build off of the success of the Climate Resilient Farming Program by creating a Carbon Farming Tax Credit (A.5660-A), incentivizing farmers to adopt practices that will both reduce emissions and store more carbon in the earth.

As a longtime supporter of a Clean Fuel Standard, I appreciate the Final Plan’s recognition of the need for “market-based mechanisms and incentives to catalyze the production and use of low carbon alternative fuels.” The creation of a Clean Fuel Standard, as well as a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Tax Credit(A.7308-A) to encourage the production and use of SAF, would decarbonize our transportation sector virtually overnight and it wouldreduce missions in disadvantaged communities today instead of years down the road when we are fully electrified.

Energy storage will be critical in maintaining reliability as we shift to more intermittent generation resources like wind and solar. I’m particularly interested in the use of new innovative technologies that allow for long duration storage while decreasing fire risks and appreciate the inclusion of these resources in the Final Plan.

Finally, we must continue to partner with labor to develop, train and support the workforce for this plan – ensuring the clean energy jobs created are high quality jobs, leading to good paying careers and that we prioritize a just transition to ensure that no one is left behind.

After nearly 15 months spent developing this Energy Plan, the next step is beginning to adopt its recommendations and educating the public – we can always do a better job of that. I stand ready to work with my partners throughout the state to implement a plan that ensures reliability, affordability, and safety for all New Yorkers as we continue with our clean energy transition.