“The Public Service Commission failed us again today. Our gas bills are set to skyrocket by over $60 a month, so National Grid, a UK-based corporation, can profit at our expense. Once again, Governor Huchul abandoned working and middle-class New Yorkers, forcing a choice between providing groceries for their families and staying warm during the cold winter months. We warned Governor Hochul and Speaker Heastie that without the NY HEAT Act,  led to this inevitable outcome: unaffordable energy prices and a collapse of New York’s commitment to fulfilling the mandates outlined by the Climate Action Council and legally binding targets demanded by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Had NY HEAT been in place to shield New Yorkers from these massive rate hikes, help protect communities and repair the climate, this wouldn't be happening. Because our leaders failed to act in the public’s interest, we now face these increases when so many struggle to meet basic needs. What  National Grid accomplished is unconscionable. They have worked tirelessly to extend the life of their fracked gas infrastructure, locking us into using gas through at least 2080 in violation of New York climate law. Aided and abetted by the Hochul Administration, these fossil criminals are making residents pay in cash and blood, putting at risk environmental justice communities, the poor, our children, and elders whenever the next deadly heat wave, flood, or storm arrives. New Yorkers already feel the effects of burning fossil fuels on a rapidly warming planet. This summer, the New York State  Health Department reported heat-related ER visits were 500-600% higher than average in June. The Governor and our legislature must take actual measures to guide a rapid transition off fossil fuels, not rubber stamp National Grid, as they double down on burning gas. 

The Public Service Commission has failed the public. We will all suffer as a result of this decision, as will our children and remaining generations to come!"