Saratoga Standard

A bill sponsored by Senator Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) aimed at assessing the cost and feasibility of the state's green energy plans was defeated by Senate Democrats on the Senate’s Energy Committee in a party-line vote. The proposed legislation, Senate bill S.2030, sought to mandate a statewide cost-benefit analysis of the technical and economic viability of renewable energy systems, contrasting it with the cost and efficiency of other electricity generation methods.

Third-party estimates suggest that the state's climate agenda could cost at least $280 billion to implement renewable energy. Senator Stec argues that it is prudent for the state to ascertain the real financial and consumer impact before undertaking a conversion that could potentially have a severe economic and reliability impact on New Yorkers.

"It’s absolute insanity to charge ahead on fundamentally changing and overhauling our state’s infrastructure and energy grid without first determining how much it will cost and the impact it will have on energy users," said Stec. He further criticized Democrat leaders for committing to spending hundreds of billions of dollars without apparent interest in understanding the financial and day-to-day impact their policies would have on power supply and usage.

"My legislation would simply call for a cost-benefit analysis and comparison of these plans to existing electricity generation methods," he added. "We can’t just issue a blank check for these expensive policies. Failing to do our due diligence on them could lead to a serious case of buyers’ remorse and serve as a massive financial drain on ratepayers."