Here's how New York State's climate law is increasing Long Island residents' energy bills

As power supply charges on electric bills continue their upward march despite LIPA's projection for reduced bills in 2026, recent figures from the state show climate-related mandates also have been adding hundreds of dollars to customer bills each year.

PSEG Long Island, on its website last week, reported the power supply charge portion of bills rose 12.7% this month, to 16.56 cents a kilowatt-hour, the third straight monthly increase. The charge makes up around half of customer bills. The March hike follows increases of 3.39% and 13.3% in January and February, respectively. LIPA, in approving its 2026 budget in December, projected customers would see average bills decline by around $6 a month this year. Thus far, the opposite has happened.

And those increases came in advance of spikes in the price of oil and natural gas last week tied to the Trump administration’s attack on Iran, suggesting further volatility. State officials, citing affordability concerns, last week indicated they are examining certain climate-law rollbacks to address rising customer costs, irking environmental groups who cite the urgency of addressing climate change consequences.

Meanwhile, a less visible impact on customer bills is detailed in a state report released in the fall that shows how climate-mitigating measures by the state and utilities have been impacting, and will continue to impact, customer bills for years to come.

In 2024, for instance, Long Island electric customers paid more than $9.65 a month in charges tied to the state’s climate law, making up about 6.4% of their bill, according to state figures. That’s a jump from the $7.57 a month customers paid in 2023 for climate-related mandates imposed by the 2019 climate law.

Proponents of the measures say they will ultimately reduce customer costs by stabilizing the cost of energy, which is now subject to big geopolitical swings, and they will help prevent climate disasters that could cost billions. But even those who support the measures say the state has done a poor job of detailing the cost of climate-law measures for everyday customers, and that unknowns, such as recent rollbacks of fossil-fuel power plant retirements, could saddle customers with even higher bills.

"We’re very worried because we believe we’re in the middle of an energy affordably crisis right now in New York State," said Bill Ferris, New York legislative representative for AARP. "Exacerbating that is that we don’t know the cost to implement the Climate Act. We do know it’s gone up over past three years by over $350 million."

The state Department of Public Service, which compiled the report, stressed that while it seeks to identify costs tied to the state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019, many of the measures and costs cited in the report predate passage of the law, and some have been paid by customers for years. They include projects such as the South Fork Wind Farm, operating since 2024, at an estimated cost of around $1.58 a month for average residential customers, LIPA has said. 

The climate law "does not specify how to achieve its goals, therefore, it is very difficult to distinguish programs and projects that are consistent with the goals of the [climate law] from those that have been initiated or expanded because" of the law, DPS spokeswoman Kim Mashke said in an email. She said even though some investments predate the 2019 climate law, "they all support achievement of the CLCPA’s targets and objectives."

And the costs will continue to increase.

State estimates show the figure increasing steadily, rising to an estimated $11.25 a month last year and to a projected $11.92 this year, according to state calculations. By 2029, the mandates will add $16.43 to average residential customer bills, according to the DPS filing.

Those figures are for residential customers who use 600 kilowatt-hours. But average LIPA customers actually use more — upward of 725 kilowatt-hours a month, according to LIPA's 2026 budget — so the impacts on customers are even higher.

For 2026, a user of 725 kilowatt-hours will likely see a bill increase of $14.40 tied to all climate-related charges. By 2029, that figure will jump to $19.85, according to a Newsday extrapolation of the charges from the DPS report.

And state projections for the climate-law mandates do not include for LIPA/PSEG customers the cost of two under-construction wind farms that are projected to come on line by 2028. Those charges of $3.54 a month will be paid by all other state ratepayers, but not LIPA as yet. But LIPA can sign on to the program voluntarily and is expected to do so, which could push the total monthly charge to more than $24 a month by 2029.

The DPS figures do include costs associated with Propel NY Energy, a $3.26 billion high-voltage cable project originally designed to bring offshore wind power to landing points in the Bronx and Westchester. According to DPS, Propel in 2025 "started to incur construction costs that are recoverable, prior to its full completion, through a construction work-in-progress incentive."

In addition, DPS said, capital and expense-related costs for Propel will be recoverable "as segments are energized" in the future. All state ratepayers are sharing those costs, including LIPA ratepayers, DPS said, "as the project will provide statewide benefit to the interconnected grid."

By 2029, according to the report, average LIPA residential customers will be paying $3.06 a month for climate-related transmission upgrades, including Propel, which has said the cost to residential customers would average $2 a month. 

Propel awaits key state and federal approvals and has been the subject of opposition by residents of Glen Head and surrounding areas, while state and environmental advocates who support it say Propel will open up power bottlenecks and let power move more easily between upstate and downstate.  

Two other potential costs that remain unclear are potential plans to upgrade or replace certain vital fossil-fuel plants across the state and Long Island, now that Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered a halt of planned plant retirements. 

And the DPS bill analysis does not include potential impacts from the climate law's proposed cap-and-invest program, which would fund some climate initiatives by charging polluters for the cost of their carbon emissions. A recently released state memo shows the program by 2031 could cost New York City-area homes using natural gas an additional $2,300 a year while gasoline prices would rise by more than $2.20 a gallon. Upstate customers would pay even more.

Ferris, the representative for AARP, which advocates for seniors, stressed that while the group does not oppose specific measures in the climate law, it worries the state is relying primarily on a single source for funding the measures — ratepayers already grappling with high bills. He noted the predicted bill impacts in the DPS report are labeled "estimates," and snapshots in time that could change.

"At the end of day, I don’t think anybody in New York knows how much it’s going to cost," Ferris said. "From AARP’s perspective, it should not be borne by ratepayers. It’s unfair and ratepayers in New York can’t pay their bills now."

Bigger customers, including commercial and industrial accounts, have paid and will pay even more, according to the state figures. Commercial customers who used upward of 12,600 kilowatt-hours paid $197.70 a month in climate-related charges in 2024, about 6.5% of their bill. And the biggest commercial customers, using more than 1.93 kilowatt-hours, saw about $20,590 in total climate related charges in 2024.

Gas customers have seen increases as well. National Grid gas residential customers on Long Island saw a $2.68 a month impact from climate-related mandates in 2024, according to the state figures, up from $2.44 a year earlier. The largest commercial gas users saw $3,764 in annual climate charges in 2024, up from $3,345 in 2023.

Hochul, in Albany last week, hinted changes to the law could be forthcoming.

"I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that affordability when it comes to energy costs is a real issue right now, and the world has changed dramatically since 2019" when the law was passed. "I wish it hadn't" changed, she said.

Hochul cited rising supply-chain costs, the Trump administration's attack on green energy and developers' abandonment of projects due to lack of feasibility to explain the changed landscape, and said, "I'm working hard on this, and I really want [to do] everything I can to address people's real concerns, yes about the climate, but also about the fact that people's energy costs" are "staggering. ... We cannot just tune out those cries for help from New Yorkers who are just getting crushed under the weight of this." 

Environmental groups want her administration to stick to the green-energy plan.

"The way forward is clear: we must take action to ensure the [state climate law] is not watered down and to protect our clean energy future," said Julie Tighe, president of the League of Conservation Voters, in a recent email blast.

The group wants Hochul to push ahead on green-energy goals, and specifically cap-and-invest, to "protect families from the real cause of rising utility bills — fossil fuels that are tethered to foreign interests and international disruptions."

Oil and natural gas prices soared last week as a consequence of the Trump administration’s attack on Iran.

But business groups say it’s time to step back from the law’s most potentially cost-spiking measures. The Association for a Better Long Island in a recent letter to state leaders warned the climate law as written could lead to "severe economic consequences for Long Island residents and businesses" and called on lawmakers to "reassess" the bill.  

The climate law's "projected costs and rigid mandates will deepen Long Island's affordability crisis and threaten the region's ability to attract and retain businesses," the group warned. 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.