The high cost of Big Green agenda

 Politico:

New York is eager to move away from fossil fuels. Customers, though, will feel the switch in their wallets.

The state has largely funded the recent investments in clean energy, electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps and new transmission lines incrementally through piecemeal decisions by the quasi-independent Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities.

But larger bills for the aggressive transition are increasingly coming due, and it has the potential for sticker shock for ratepayers — a byproduct of the tremendous complexity of shifting from from fossil fuels to heat and power homes and businesses.

Some of the costs are already impacting utility bills, but more are set to hit in the coming years as projects come online.

"Financing them exclusively through rates, particularly on residential, is the least progressive mechanism for financing anything. We make no judgment whether you have the money to pay or you don't have the money to pay," John Howard, a commissioner on the Public Service Commission, said at last month’s meeting.

While lawmakers' concerns are growing over the impact on consumers, they have few levers to shift course on the already-approved costs.

A wholesale transition of the state’s energy system is not optional: It is mandated under a sweeping 2019 law requiring 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and an emissions free grid by 2040, alongside overall reductions in planet-warming gasses. So it requires a wholesale electrification of the state’s economy if New York is to meet the statutory targets.
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The most recent example is a decision last month by the PSC approving an estimated $4.4 billion in costs to be paid statewide for transmission upgrades by utilities. The costs may ultimately be higher or lower and won’t be fully felt until they’re completed.
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Other costs that are hitting utility bills over the coming years include, according to decisions by the Public Service Commission:

$700 million to subsidize electric vehicle chargers

$454 million for heat pump subsidies

$1 billion to subsidize small-scale solar projects and more.

Some of the costs of utility investments to support the state’s climate law are difficult to parse out, because they are included in rate hike proposals from utilities. That includes utility investments in electric vehicle chargers, storage projects, transmission upgrades to integrate renewables and other programs.

The state is trying to provide some help and ensure low-income customers aren’t hit too hard.
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There is more.

This is the high price to be paid by the True Believers in climate change.  The projections of climate change have not been met for the most part, which makes the expenditures all the more questionable.