Thursday, October 1, 2026
It’s a common mistake to confuse ambition with planning. New York state has fallen into this flawed approach, nowhere more clearly than in our energy policy. Gov. Kathy Hochul has charged ahead (forgive the pun) with sweeping, expeditious mandates without ensuring the infrastructure, affordability or reliability to support them.
As the ranking Republican on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, I’ve spent countless hours reviewing budgets, projections and long-term plans. One lesson I will continue to repeat is that ignoring warnings doesn’t make problems disappear. It makes them more expensive and a bigger burden down the line — a burden that families and businesses here in Nassau County will ultimately bear.
In her 2022 State of the State address, Hochul announced an aggressive push to electrify our cars, our kitchens and our heating systems, despite not having the grid capabilities to fulfill her radical agenda. Green energy may be a goal worth pursuing, but rushing it without a reliable grid or a focus on affordability is a recipe for failure.
The New York Independent System Operator — the independent, nonpartisan organization responsible for managing our electric grid — has warned repeatedly that New York is not ready for the pace of electrification being pushed by state policy. Reliability margins are shrinking statewide, especially as fossil-fuel plants retire faster than new power sources and transmission lines can come online. NYISO made clear that electrifying buildings, transportation and heating all at once would dramatically increase demand beyond what the system could safely handle.
Energy demand is increasing exponentially from rushed electrification and new energy-intensive industries, and it’s projected to nearly double by 2040 while infrastructure upgrades lag. The return on this agenda simply doesn’t add up: Increased risks to grid reliability, higher housing costs driven by all-electric building mandates, and growing affordability concerns for ratepayers do more to hurt than help. And after all that, New York’s unilateral actions have little measurable impact on climate outcomes, despite the huge price New Yorkers are being asked to pay.
This pressure ultimately forced the state to pause implementation of the All-Electric Buildings Act and acknowledge the need for reliability safeguards. The 2025 New York State Energy Plan, directed by the State Energy Planning Board, provides broad policy direction that guides energy-related decision-making in the state. During a series of public board meetings held between September 2024 and December 2025, and several hearings held between November 2024 and September 2025, all of the aforementioned concerns were raised routinely, resulting in changes to the draft that seem to move us toward grid reliability, expanded transmission, a mix of energy sources and more realistic timelines for electrification.
An all-of-the-above strategy recognizes that we still need natural gas, and we need to invest in nuclear power. And we need dispatchable energy sources that can keep the system running when renewable generation isn’t available. Most important, such a strategy puts affordability and reliability back at the center of the conversation. That’s how we set ourselves up for success.
Which is why it’s troubling that, at the same time, Hochul recently signed into law a repeal of New York’s longstanding “100-foot rule” for natural gas service, a move that runs counter to this more balanced approach. The rule required utilities to cover the cost of new gas service connections within 100 feet of an existing main, a policy that has supported housing development, controlled construction costs and ensured that essential energy service remains accessible and affordable for families across our state. Eliminating this rule shifts thousands of dollars in new hookup costs (estimated at $3,000 to $15,000 per connection) directly onto households, builders and renters. New York’s residential electric rates are already nearly 50 percent higher than the national average.
Attempting to reach a goal by wishing it into existence and sorting out the consequences later almost always leads to collateral damage. Planning today with affordability, reliability and long-term success in mind will ensure that today’s decisions don’t create tomorrow’s crisis. That’s the discipline New York should apply to its energy policy to prepare for success, not failure.
Ed Ra, of Franklin Square, represents the 19th Assembly District.
