Senate Republicans offered plans on Monday in Albany.

ALBANY — Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt along with Sens. Mario Mattera, Tom O’Mara, Steve Chan and members of the Senate Republican Conference unveiled a package of legislation aimed at addressing New York’s outrageous energy costs and offsetting the effects of costly energy mandates out of Albany.

The legislative package, “Affordable Energy, Not Albany Mandates,” is part of the Senate Republican Conference’s broader 2026 legislative agenda entitled “Save New York,” a plan to improve affordability, enhance public safety, and build a stronger New York for today and future generations.

Several proposals in the legislative package would deliver immediate financial relief to New Yorkers by lowering utility bills. Senate Bill 8461A, sponsored by O’Mara, would return approximately $2 billion currently sitting unspent in state coffers for green energy programs directly back to ratepayers in the form of utility bill credits. Additionally, Senate Bill 8463 would provide a one year utility bill tax and surcharge holiday, similar to the state’s 2022 gas tax holiday, which was implemented when New Yorkers were facing $5 per gallon at the pump. These measures would provide real and immediate relief.

“Just last week a newspaper article highlighted how more than 400,000 customers have had their gas or power cut because they can’t afford to pay their bills — numbers that are much higher than during the great recession. This is completely unacceptable, and a direct result of Albany Democrats’ out-of-touch Green New Scam policies. The New York State legislature must start acting on behalf of all of our constituents, instead of passing feel-good policies that do nothing to save the planet and only serve to please radical environmentalists, while making the rest of the state suffer,” Ortt said.

Republicans said New Yorkers are currently weathering some of the highest energy rates in the nation. Residential electricity rates in New York are 50% higher than the national average and rose 7.6% in the past year, faster than the national average. Since New York Democrats passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), electricity rates in New York have increased 45% – leading New Yorkers to pay 30-40% higher rates than our neighbors in Pennsylvania.

“Since the CLCPA’s approval in 2019, we’ve watched Albany Democrats move at record speed to pile one unfunded mandate on top of another unworkable policy on top of the next unrealistic directive desperately trying to inflict a zero-emissions economy on this entire state that will have zero impact on the climate,” said O’Mara, member of the Senate Energy and Telecommunication Committee. “These actions are delivering a heavy price tag that will only get heavier as time goes on for ratepayers. The consequences for ratepayers and taxpayers, small businesses and manufacturers, school districts, farmers, and entire local economies will continue to be devastating. It has become clear that the current strategy is not realistic or achievable.”

Among the goals of the legislative package are to provide immediate ratepayer relief, increase cost transparency, and repeal costly mandates that would bring immediate ratepayer relief, cost transparency and the repeal of Green Energy mandates.

Sen. George Borrello of Sunset Bay has put forth a bill to repeals the zero-emission school bus mandate.