Hochul’s Budget Amendments Won’t Help Energy Affordability

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, February 20, 2026

Hochul’s Budget Amendments Won’t Help Energy Affordability

Hochul scorns thousands of New Yorkers calling for $200 million for public renewables

Albany, New York – Governor Kathy Hochul scorned thousands of New Yorkers and elected officials by failing to add $200 million for public renewables to her executive budget proposal. While Hochul did not include expected rollbacks to New York’s nation-leading climate law in her 30-day budget amendments, she could still try to weaken the law as negotiations move forward in the coming months.

New York is perilously behind on meeting the legally mandated targets of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act which require the state to be at 70% renewable energy by 2030. The CEO of New York Power Authority (NYPA), Justin Driscoll, recently testified at a budget hearing that “more funds, more equity” would result in “more projects” being built.

Alex Patterson, Campaign Coordinator for Public Power NY, said: “Governor Hochul isn’t gutting New York’s climate law just yet, but she’s also not doing anything to reach the legally mandated targets of the CLCPA and deliver on her promise of energy affordability. Hochul’s energy plan doubling down on expensive fracked gas and nuclear power will only send unaffordable bills even higher. Building affordable, public renewables is the only way to lower energy bills, reduce pollution and ensure a liveable New York.”

Thousands of New Yorkers and elected officials, like Zohran Mamdani, have called on Hochul’s NYPA to build the 15 gigawatt(GW) of public renewables necessary for the state to meet its legally mandated climate targets and lower energy bills. Instead of leading the nation, NYPA recently backtracked on its strategic plan to implement the Build Public Renewables Act (BPRA), approving a costly 1.5(GW) cut to the amount of renewables it plans to build.

A newly introduced bill, the Public Power Democracy Act (S8610/A9456), introduced by Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha would expand the NYPA board of trustees to 17 so it has the expertise necessary to meet its expanded role under the BRPA.

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Note to the editor:

About Public Power NY

As chronicled in the new book “Organize or Burn.” Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.