Elected Officials and NY Residents Rally Against Utility Injustice: "We Won’t Pay to be Poisoned!"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Priscilla Grim | priscilla@saneenergy.org | 347.682.9783
Kim Fraczek | kim@saneenergy.org | 646.387.3180
PRESS RELEASE FOR: We Won't PAY to be POISONED: NYC Utility Injustice, targeting National Grid
Brooklyn, NY – August 15, 2024—Community leaders joined activists in a powerful rally and press conference to protest National Grid's proposed rate hikes and continued investment in its aging fracked gas system. The event, part of the Nationwide Utility Justice Week of Action, took place at National Grid’s Brooklyn headquarters at 2 Hanson Place.
NYS Senator Julia Salazar denouncing utility rate increases photo credit: Ken Schles
This morning, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) approved National Grid's request for a series of rate hikes that will begin in 2024, with an initial increase of over $30 per month for Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and Long Island customers. The increase will continue in 2025 and 2026, eventually reaching a total monthly increase of $61.00 for Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Queens customers and $67.00 for Long Island customers.
The rate hikes are intended to fund National Grid's fracked gas infrastructure projects, which has led to opposition from various environmental groups and residents. The rally, organized by Sane Energy Project, 350 Brooklyn, Alliance For A Green Economy (AGREE NY), and the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance, aimed to raise awareness about the potential negative impacts of these rate hikes and the need to move away from fossil fuels.
Kim Fraczek, Director of Sane Energy Project, said, “It is unconscionable for this UK-based corporation, operating as a public utility, to push for unjust rate hikes and prioritize the interests of its shareholders over the well-being of New Yorkers. Today, the average family struggles with an unprecedented burden of unpaid utility bills while National Grid treats us like we are chips in its crooked casino. Today's decision by the Public Service Commission to approve billions of dollars for this corporation results in extreme bill increases that affect a majority of NYC and the entirety of Long Island. This is a testament that those who hold the power to protect us from predatory corporations defying environmental justice turn on the very people they are entrusted to protect. The financial, health, and safety costs of the climate crisis are not considered in the equation, disregarding the demands of the people. The PSC continues to protect the interests of the fracked gas industry rather than working with advocates and experts to find creative ways to provide heating and cooking, stop clinging to a law that favors industry, and instead follow a law that offers numerous options for releasing that grip. The solutions are abundant. We just need leaders who are willing to lead.”
At the hearing in Albany, we witnessed firsthand Governor Hochul's administration ignoring the state’s climate law mandates for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and decided to disrupt the PSC meeting. While the Commission accused activists of being inappropriate, we asserted that in approving the rate case, they were showing their true colors as climate deniers and shameless corporate shills.
Speakers at the event called on the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Governor Kathy Hochul to reject National Grid’s proposal. They emphasized that New York State law mandates a transition off fossil fuels by 2050 to mitigate the climate crisis, which is already manifesting extreme weather events like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods.
At the rally today, New York State Senator Julia Salazar said, “It doesn’t have to be this way, and it shouldn’t be this way. The Public Sevice Commission should be accountable to New Yorkers and accountable to the climate justice legislation that we have made law in New York State, the commitments we have made to transition to 100% renewable energy, the commitments that our state has made to build out public renewables so that we don’t rely on corporate utilities like National Grid and Con Edison to survive and to usher in a just transition to renewable energy we cant rely on them because the truth is, it's not in their interest. They care about profits for their shareholders and do not care about our futures or our abilities as New Yorkers to make ends meet and pay our bills every month. It's completely unsustainable. Instead of allowing these rate increases to continue, we must keep up the fight and pressure Governor Hochul to invest in renewable energy and change course for the sake of our state and our future.”
No North Brooklyn Pipeline Alliance issued a statement that said: “The Public Service Commission failed us today. Gas bills will soar by over $60/month, benefiting UK-based National Grid at our expense. Governor Hochul abandoned working-class New Yorkers, forcing them to choose between groceries and heat. The NY HEAT Act could have prevented this, but our leaders failed to act. Now, National Grid’s fracked gas infrastructure will lock us into using gas until 2080, violating New York climate laws and endangering vulnerable communities. It’s time for real action to move off fossil fuels before it's too late.”
Sane Energy Project, founded in 2011, aims to replace fracked gas infrastructure with 100% democratically controlled renewable energy across New York State. With the support of over 15,000 activists, the organization has successfully stopped or delayed ten major fossil fuel projects in the state.
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