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Responding to Gov. Hochul’s 2024 State of the State Address

“We are pleased to see the Governor zero in on affordability as a major theme of her 2024 State of the State address. As an organization, we have long believed that making sure working families can live and thrive in our communities. should be the most important factor driving our state’s policy makers. We applaud Governor Hochul for not endorsing the entirety of the NY Heat Act, and for wisely choosing to buck extremists and leave out any mention of their 6% wealth redistribution scheme. We do, however, take issue with her endorsement of ending the “100-foot rule” for gas infrastructure because it threatens good paying union jobs at a time when our state can ill afford such losses. In many areas, natural gas is the most affordable option for an average family. This proposal would move this choice out of reach for all but the most affluent families. New York continues to lead the nation in population loss. It is essential that we change course now before it is too late. Ongoing costs being driven by New York’s well-intentioned but poorly executed climate goals are a major factor behind increasing utility bills. These increases hurt consumers and businesses alike. Further, these same bills are making New York uncompetitive and driving more and more of our citizens to seek opportunity elsewhere. This year, instead of letting ideology lead the way, let us all work together on an affordable and environmentally responsible energy agenda grounded in reality and common sense.” 

https://gothamist.com/news/winter-blackouts-more-likely-as-nyc-climate-goals-force-shift-to-electrical-heat

https://earthjustice.org/press/2023/as-heat-rises-and-electric-bills-soar-gov-hochul-must-protect-nyers-by-passing-ny-heat-act

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/new-york-adopts-statewide-gas-ban-in-new-construction-75554474

https://stateline.org/2023/05/03/new-york-to-ban-fossil-fuels-in-new-buildings-23-states-have-forbidden-such-bans/

https://nypost.com/2023/04/28/some-new-yorkers-say-future-gas-stove-ban-in-new-buildings-is-not-so-hot-an-idea/

https://gizmodo.com/the-first-natural-gas-ban-in-the-u-s-just-got-shot-dow-1850352032

Daniel Ortega | April 3, 2023

True debate no longer exists in the halls of government, whether it be in Washington or Albany. Most issues today are presented as black or white, right or left. But some policy issues are more nuanced, especially when it comes to the operation of our complex energy grid. Our elected leaders need to give careful consideration to how their decisions will impact the lives of their constituents.

That is certainly the case when it comes to New York’s headfirst charge into implementing its aggressive climate laws. New polling shows most New Yorkers want Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders to carefully consider how much it’s all going to cost them, even as they generally support efforts to fight climate change. Albany needs to listen to them.

New Yorkers for Affordable Energy recently released statewide polling conducted by the Siena College Research Institute. The results were not ambiguous. They showed pretty clearly that New Yorkers generally want to combat climate change, but had serious concerns about the cost of doing so. The survey also found that a sizable majority of New Yorkers both use — and want to continue using — natural gas.

For many questions, this wasn’t a 51-49 majority within the margin of error. For example, more than 3 out of 4 New Yorkers said that climate change was a serious problem, 74% supported efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and another 74% said they would be willing to personally change aspects of their life to reduce those emissions.

But New Yorkers also showed they are deeply concerned about their own pocketbooks, with 96% of respondents saying the cost of living was a serious concern — about as close to unanimous as you get in polling. It didn’t stop there, with 87% of residents saying they are concerned about the cost of moving away from natural gas, propane or oil for home heating, and another 79% saying that heat pumps are too costly. 

While Gov. Hochul and Albany lawmakers are quickly moving to ban new natural gas appliances — like stoves — and the use of fossil fuels in new construction, New Yorkers consistently responded that they think natural gas should play a role in the state’s climate efforts. More than 80% of poll respondents said they use natural gas to heat their homes, 80% said a mix of energy efficiency and natural gas can be used to lower building emissions, and another 80% agreed that switching buildings to all-electric will result in power outages.

Unfortunately, Albany isn’t listening to this huge majority of New Yorkers and the nuanced position they’re taking. Instead, lawmakers seem willing to appease a very small and noisy movement of environmental advocacy groups pushing for public policies that will be prohibitively expensive but have no meaningful impact on the climate. And those groups are desperate to avoid talking about cost, because they know how expensive all of this will be.

So what does this all mean? As Association for a Better Long Island executive director Kyle Strober said, “While the aspirational goal of a carbon free energy future is an admirable objective, ignoring the realities of how people heat their homes, prepare their food, and leverage natural gas to drive the economy has the potential to put our state at risk.”

I agree, and hope Albany listens to the majority of constituents who want to help the environment but also want a reliable and resilient grid without skyrocketing costs.

This guest essay reflects the views of Daniel Ortega, executive director of New Yorkers for Affordable Energy.

Lucas Stritsman | March 24, 2023

Make no mistake about it: Gov. Kathy Hochul is absolutely coming for your gas appliances.

Government officials, environmental advocates and members of the media can roll their eyes over the outcry or come up with euphemisms – like calling it a “phaseout” – but whatever you call it, once New York outlaws the purchase of new gas appliances, my family-owned small business, and possibly hundreds of other mom-and-pop shops across the state, will go out of business. And the environmental or health benefits being touted by supporters of the ban are either wildly overstated or simply nonexistent.

So far, the debate around the ban has been set up as environmental advocates against consumers and homeowners, with very little attention being paid to business owners – like me – who sell these popular appliances. According to the Northeast Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association, there are more than 3,000 businesses – many of them family owned – across New York that sell gas-fired grills, stoves, fireplaces, and similar items. Beyond that, there are thousands of associated businesses, including builders, repair personnel, and retail workers, that work in the industry.

For these New York business owners and employees, the impact of such a ban would be much more than simply losing access to gas for cooking, heating and recreation. Hochul’s policy would devastate hundreds of small businesses and local contractors, with consequences for our state’s economy and tens of thousands of people who live and work here.

My business was founded in 1977 by my father, Wayne Stritsman. Over the years it grew to employ 38 people and helped more than 100,000 happy clients. Our business has put me and my siblings through college, and it helped my employees do the same. Over 70 percent of our business is in high-efficiency gas fireplaces, which require skilled technicians, whom we employ, to install and service. Once the ban on gas goes into effect, I don’t know how we’re going to survive. Thousands of local fireplace businesses like mine will be forced to lay off our skilled workers.

Supporters of the ban are arguing that eliminating gas appliances would be good for the environment and people’s health. They ignore the fact that all of the products we sell are heavily regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, with strict certifications and emissions protocols. And it’s hard to quantify the environmental benefits of eliminating gas appliances in New York on a global scale – which is the only way to measure the impact on our climate – mostly because it would be so unbelievably small. According to a study from Stanford, all of the gas stoves in the country contribute about 0.18 percent of the pollution produced by cars in the United States. What percentage of that comes from New York? What percentage of that contributes to global emissions?

Since taking office, Gov. Hochul has said over and over that improving the economy was a top priority during her first full term in office. However, policies like this fast-moving “phaseout” of gas appliances would do the opposite, with virtually no measurable benefit for New Yorkers’ health or our environment. Don’t ignore the fact that keeping good businesses like mine will keep New Yorkers employed with good-paying jobs, making New York a great place to live.

Lucas Stritsman is the president and general manager of Best Fire Hearth & Patio, based in Albany.