Recent victories by Democratic gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia and for seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission have led outlets like Politico to brand the outcomes as the “electricity election.” [some emphasis, links added]
And nationally, Democrats appear eager to seize on voter discontent over high power bills to position themselves as the champions of electricity affordability heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
But this newfound energetic electoral enthusiasm raises the question: If the energy and climate policies enacted by Democrats make energy so affordable, why are they retreating from them?
Take New York, where Governor Kathy Hochul (D) delayed implementing the state’s cap-and-tax mandates under the 2019 climate law. The law seeks to reduce statewide carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40 percent by 2030.
Furthermore, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) requires the state to produce 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040.
When it passed, it was hailed by former Vice President Al Gore as “the most well-crafted” environmental legislation.
Yet New York is nowhere near meeting its goals.
Renewables — including not only wind and solar but conventional hydroelectric as well — made up only 23.2 percent of the state’s generation in July 2025 — only three percentage points higher than the U.S. average.
New York’s residential electricity prices, meanwhile, were 50 percent higher than the U.S. average in July, and the state’s grid operator has warned of rising reliability risks over the next five years.
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation has said implementing the regulations now would be “infeasible,” because it would impose “extraordinary and damaging costs upon New Yorkers.”
Hochul has said as much herself, stating in an interview that the state’s goals must happen “in a time frame that’s not going to hurt ratepayers, so we’re slowing things down.”
She also wants to “make sure that I’m not doing something that’s going to drive up costs for consumers, and the data shows at this time it would.”
In 2023, Hochul had even proposed authorizing $1 billion in “climate action rebates” to New Yorkers — to offset the impacts on ratepayers if the law is fully implemented.
POST OP-ED: Blame Dems for Fueling New York’s ‘Affordability’ Crisis With Their Green-energy Insanity! NY electricity prices are 44% higher than the national average.Residential rates have risen 36% since 2019
Utilities this year are seeking 20% rate hikes https://t.co/AHxqkvxwPH— Okapi Livy (@jffunky) December 4, 2025
Hochul has also retreated further from expensive climate orthodoxy by approving two major natural gas pipelines and delaying implementation of New York’s All-Electric Buildings Act, which bans gas stoves in new buildings.
New York is not unique — in fact, examples abound.
Massachusetts state Rep. Mark Cusack (D) has introduced a bill to make his state’s onerous 2030 emissions target non-binding.
“I have not found anyone who says that we are going to make our mandates,” Cusack acknowledged.
Pennsylvania, with the agreement of Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), is leaving the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). In Colorado, Xcel Energy and the Public Utilities Commission have received permission to run a coal plant past its scheduled retirement date.
Even California is getting in on the action, paving the way for more oil drilling in Kern County and delaying a plan to penalize oil companies for high refinery profits.
This, despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) appeals to the progressive environmental left through stunts such as attending the United Nations climate talks [COP30].
The Democrats’ climate backtracking in some of America’s bluest states is a tacit — and in Hochul’s case, not-so-tacit — admission that these policies make energy more expensive for families and businesses, prioritizing climate mandates over affordability.
Read rest at The Hill
