Can Hochul sell legislative Democrats on her 'all-of-the-above' energy push
ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul has spent the last six months crafting an energy affordability message that has often put her at odds with fellow Democrats.
The state needs an “all-of-the-above approach,” Hochul has often said, including more nuclear power and natural gas pipelines.
“The long-term answer to affordability is not scarcity; it’s building more in-state power,” Hochul wrote in a letter supporting the state’s recently adopted 15-year energy plan.
When the state Legislature returns to the Capitol Wednesday, it will have the power to propel Hochul’s “all-of-the-above approach,” or to try and shut it down. So far, many Democrats, who hold commanding majorities in both chambers, are not thrilled.
When Hochul directed the New York Power Authority to develop 1 gigawatt of nuclear power in June, it was widely applauded by Republicans, the business community, labor organizations and observers who saw it as a way to help ensure grid reliability.
It also demonstrated a savviness from Hochul to take advantage of the one area of clean energy development being championed by President Donald J. Trump’s administration.
A “more sustainable package” of resources could have been put together without creating “another nuclear waste site,” state Sen. Kevin Parker, the Democratic chair of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, said in a July interview. Parker noted it would be better to repower Indian Point, a shuttered nuclear facility in Westchester County, rather than develop a new site.
Late last year, Hochul backed a controversial pipeline project to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey to New York City, which is facing pressing grid reliability needs.
“As governor, a top priority is making sure the lights and heat stay on for all New Yorkers as we face potential energy shortages downstate as soon as next summer,” Hochul said in a November statement. She also connected the pipeline to her all-of-the-above approach.
She again won support from Republicans, labor organizations, and energy sector stakeholders. Democrats labeled the project as unlawful, given New York’s zero-emission energy targets.
'She’s all over the place'
While Hochul pushed forward with an “all-of-the-above approach,” she also slowed a pair of policies integral to the state’s clean energy and greenhouse gas reduction mandates in the name of affordability.
New York agreed to delay implementation of a requirement that all newly constructed homes and low-rise buildings use all-electric appliances that would have gone into effect this month. All new buildings were supposed to be subject to the rules in 2029, with limited exceptions.
In July, a coalition of homebuilders, gas industry groups and several labor unions lost a federal court decision challenging the rules.
The all-electric buildings act appeared to have survived any remaining challenges until October, when a group of 19 state Assembly Democrats called on the governor to slow them. After Hochul mentioned “affordability” concerns with the regulations, her administration agreed to pause them until the appeals process is adjudicated.
Hochul is delaying a cap-and-invest program which requires fossil fuel-intensive industries to pay for their carbon emissions. The proceeds would be intended to fund utility rebates for New Yorkers and drive investments in cleaner technologies.
After advocating for the policy a few years ago, Hochul said in August she needs to “moderate” to ensure the state isn’t “doing something that’s going to drive up costs for consumers right now.”
In October, state Supreme Court Justice Julian Schreibman ruled the state needed to enact policies to ensure compliance with the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
Schreibman set a February deadline for advancing the rules, unless the Legislature works to weaken the Climate Act. The state appealed the ruling, and Hochul said she’d “sit down with the Legislature” on the issue.
Democrats in the Legislature haven’t shown particular interest in amending the Climate Act to prevent cap-and-invest from being implemented.
“I just can’t see that there will be any appetite in the Senate to kneecap (the Climate Act) this session, but there is definitely an appetite to implement critical affordability policies and investments to bring down New Yorkers’ utility costs while at the same time meeting our reality-based climate targets,” state Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat, said in October.
Prominent Democrats' proposals on energy affordability mainly focus on slashing utility profits and increasing renewable energy production, rather than clearing the way for new electricity sources.
“We will have to discuss (potential changes) as a conference, but the Climate Act was a crucial step for New York to protect our environment,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
Hochul could turn to a coalition of Republicans — who don’t support cap-and-invest or sticking to Climate Act timelines — and more moderate Democrats for changes. Republicans, though, are wary of bargaining with her.
“(Hochul) is not the kind of person you can trust in a negotiation, because she’s all over the place,” said state Senate Minority Leader Robert G. Ortt.
Ortt added that he sees Hochul’s energy pivot as a campaign strategy rather than a true shift in her thinking.
In 2024, Hochul delayed congestion pricing in New York City. She then reinstated the policy after the presidential election — something Ortt pointed to as a reason not to trust Hochul’s word.
Some moderate Democrats who spoke out against the electric building mandate are content to use the same congestion-pricing playbook Republicans ridicule.
“We’ve done it before, we made a pause, and then we followed through with (congestion pricing),” said Assemblyman William Conrad III, a Buffalo-area Democrat.
'Time is wasting'
The Legislature will likely need to develop a policy to encourage action toward the goals laid out in the recently approved state energy plan.
The plan calls for the development of around 15 gigawatts of clean energy from sources other than nuclear, solar, wind, hydroelectric dams and grid-connected batteries. [And what might that be?]
One option discussed in the plan is to utilize renewable natural gas as an alternative fuel for gas-fired power plants and vehicles. Renewable natural gas is produced from the organic breakdown of rotting materials, such as waste at a landfill. The natural breakdown of aging food and cow manure can create methane, the primary component of natural gas.
Unlike renewable and nuclear power, biofuels aren’t encouraged in New York, so they haven’t developed. It’s also never been made clear whether these resources even comply with the Climate Act’s emission-reduction standards. California, for example, values biofuels like renewable natural gas as low-emissions resources, allowing the state to consume the lion’s share of the market.
“The first most basic step would be providing some clear guidance that, yes, (renewable natural gas) is eligible, it is consistent with the goals and requirements of the Climate (Act),” said Matt Tomich, president of Energy Vision, a New York-based research organization focused on low-carbon fuels.
In 2023, Hochul backed a bill that would change the way emissions are calculated under the Climate Act to match the standards existing in nearly every other state and country.
“The state’s (greenhouse gas) accounting systems incompatibility creates major compliance hurdles that do not exist in the other states where these investors and developers will likely gravitate,” Parker, the Senate Energy Committee chairman, wrote in support of the bill at the time.
Environmental groups successfully tanked the proposal, arguing it would weaken New York’s strong emission reduction standards and open the state up for more natural gas production.
The bill has been refiled for the upcoming legislative session.
Hochul’s administration needs to get on the same page on what “all of the above” really means, said Gavin J. Donohue, who represents many of the state’s power plants as president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York.
In December, the Public Service Commission directed Con Edison to study potential zero-emission resources to address reliability shortfalls in New York City.
Donohue said the order is confusing for several reasons. First, the commission hasn’t identified what it considers a “zero-emission” resource, so it’s unclear what that can be considered under the state’s clean energy requirements. Also, if the state isn’t open to repowering aging gas plants or adding additional gas facilities, then why did it approve a new gas pipeline, Donohue added.
“The reality is, time is wasting. Investment dollars are finite, and they’re going other places at the moment, because New York really can’t get its act together,” Donohue said.
Hochul’s abrupt and legally tenuous delays of various clean energy policies may strain her ability to negotiate on other important policy areas.
“You can’t keep stopping things that have never even started,” Assemblyman Albert A. Stirpe Jr. said in November.
“When we negotiate the budget, it’s going to make things a little bit more difficult…, (it’s) going to make people read things very closely with any chapter amendments and possibly not accept them,” added Stirpe, a Democrat from Onondaga County.
Chapter amendments are proposed changes to legislation Hochul puts forward after a bill has already been passed. Any changes need to be approved again by the Legislature.
It’s also unclear how much time, energy and political capital Hochul wants to dedicate to the issue in a five-month legislative session. She’ll need to navigate working with Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist mayor of New York City, who’s pushing for a tax hike on wealthy New Yorkers and corporations. Hochul has said she does not support raising income taxes for anyone.
Emma Wallner, a spokeswoman for the governor, declined to provide any details about what Hochul’s possible strategy on energy will be during the upcoming budget negotiations and legislative session.
“The governor will unveil her legislative agenda in her Jan. 13 State of the State address,” Wallner said.
But some prognosticators are already projecting inaction.
“I suspect 2026 will be the year of finger-pointing rather than actually doing anything to lower energy costs,” said Justin Wilcox, executive director of Upstate United, an organization advocating for upstate taxpayers and businesses.
Investigative Reporter
Ezra Bitterman is a Joseph T. Lyons Investigative Fellow for the Times Union. He is from Los Angeles and studied Journalism at the University of Missouri. Ezra previously reported for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Columbia Missourian and Euractiv. He's reachable at Ezra.Bitterman@TimesUnion.com.
Will Democrats legislate on Hochul's 'all-of-the-above' approach
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