April 13, 2017 New York State Senate 202 Legislative Office Bldg. Albany, NY 12248 Dear State Senators Joe Griffo, Elaine Phillips, Kemp Hannon, John Flanagan and Kenneth Lavalle: We, the undersigned groups, representing millions of taxpayers in the state of New York, urge you to vigorously oppose Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $8 billion nuclear bailout. Last year, Gov. Cuomo provided a bailout for three nuclear power plants as part of the Governor’s ill-conceived Clean Energy Standard (CES). As fiscal conservatives, we urge you to stand up for ratepayers and taxpayers. The CES, as constructed, would require New York to get 50 percent of its energy from carbon-neutral (renewable) sources by 2030. Right now renewables make up just 23 percent of the state’s energy supply. Achieving that 50 percent threshold will require that consumers and taxpayers cover the cost to achieve that mandate. Not only that, but all of the state’s utilities and other energy suppliers will cover the cost of carbon-free emissions that nuclear power plants will have to buy when they purchase Zero-Emission Credits from a government bureaucracy. The plan is a subsidy for three struggling nuclear plants (all owned by one company) that would otherwise fail financially if forced to comply with the CES without financial help from ratepayers. The plan isn’t just a multi-billion dollar giveaway to struggling nuclear plants, it’s a rate increase for New Yorkers and an increase on the cost that taxpayers will be responsible for with electricity costs for public buildings. Schools alone account for more than 1,800 of the public buildings in New York and when their electric costs go up as a result of Cuomo’s plan, taxpayers will be paying for that increase along with their own electric bills.
