New York escaped utility monopolies once before. It shouldn't go back
Not long ago, New Yorkers had no choice about where their electricity came from. A handful of large utility companies owned the power plants, set the terms and sent you the bill. There was no competition, no accountability and no incentive to control costs.
By the mid- to late 1990s, New York had seen enough and restructured its energy sector to open generation to competition.
It was the right call. Yet proposals are now moving through Albany that would take New York backward and give the keys to power plants back to the utilities.
History makes the stakes clear. When our state operated under a utility-monopoly model, New Yorkers were paying too much and getting too little, and the utilities had no incentive to change. Competition reshaped that. In the decades that followed, independent power producers operating in open markets helped control generation costs, drove innovation and gave New York a stronger, more diverse fuel mix.
Most importantly, competition created something the monopoly model never could: a system in which suppliers bear their own project risk and have a structural incentive to perform, which ultimately benefits all New Yorkers.
Supporters of these proposals argue that utility ownership will bring power plants online faster, at lower cost, and will help New York meet its growing energy needs. These claims do not hold up. Utilities must navigate the same permitting requirements, supply chains and labor markets as any other developer. The difference is who absorbs the risk when things go wrong.
These proposals would give the same monopolies, already unpopular with New Yorkers, a guaranteed, ratepayer-funded role in owning the next generation of power plants. Under that model, utilities do not bear project risk. You do. If a project runs over budget or behind schedule, the cost shows up in your electric bill. There is no pressure to do better, because there is no competition.
The people who would feel the consequences most are those who can afford them least. Expanding utility monopoly control over generation threatens household budgets and the economic foundation that communities across this state depend on.
This summer, temperatures have climbed to dangerous levels and the grid faced repeated and serious tests. Large-scale generation sources have been threatened just when demand is highest. What has held the system together is the availability of multiple independent sources of generation able to respond when needed. That is what a diverse market structure is designed to produce. It is not a guarantee, but it is the best structural protection consumers have.
A recent survey found that 71% of registered voters say their electricity bills have gone up this past year. Utility costs are out of control. When asked to identify the single biggest driver of rising electricity costs, a plurality of New Yorkers pointed to monopoly utilities, more than any other cause offered.
New York broke the monopoly paradigm once because it was failing families, seniors, workers and businesses. The question before New York now is whether to build on that foundation or abandon it. For the retiree watching their bill climb, the factory owner trying to stay competitive, and the families facing brownout warnings, the answer should be clear: Lawmakers should not reward unpopular monopoly utilities with more power, less accountability and greater control over New Yorkers' electric bills.
