New Yorkers Deliver Congressman Lawler the “Bill” for Skyrocketing Energy Costs During Coldest Winter in Years
Hudson Valley Families Face Over $33 Million in Higher Energy Costs From Rep. Lawler’s Vote to Undermine Cost Relief
MAHOPAC, NEW YORK — Yesterday, Hudson Valley families gathered outside Rep. Mike Lawler’s Mahopac district office to deliver a symbolic “energy bill” representing the rising costs facing households across New York’s 17th Congressional District.
As residents endure one of the coldest winters in years, households in NY-17 are projected to pay an average of $130 more this year compared to last winter — totaling over $33 million in additional annual energy costs across the district.
“Because Congressman Lawler has punted on energy costs, families in his district who were already struggling to afford heating their home are now paying the price and being charged hundreds of dollars more each year,” said Neal Chervin, a retiree from Yorktown. “That means families tightening already-strained budgets, rationing goods, or even being forced to freeze. This pain has been entirely preventable, but Congressman Lawler has refused to take the issue head on, instead blaming others.”
Residents delivered a symbolic ‘bill’ to Congressman Lawler’s offices, totaling up the increased energy costs that his constituents will now pay, thanks to his record in Congress. | CREDIT: Empire State Voices
“You know what no one has ever said? ‘Energy costs too little,’” said Baila Lemonik, a Mental Health Counselor from Putnam. “Well, Mike Lawler must think that it does, because he has voted against the financial interests of his constituents, while sitting on his hands as constituents worry about how they’ll afford to pay their bills. Rather than coming forward with a bipartisan solution to rising energy costs, he deflects, blames, and then claims he understands the problem. As happens all too often, Rep. Lawler fails and his constituents got stuck with the bill.”
Natural gas prices have soared over the past few weeks due to high demand, and New Yorkers continue to see utility rate hikes despite already paying some of the highest electricity costs in the country. At a time when 1 in 4 households are living paycheck to paycheck, and inflationary tariffs have left New Yorkers paying more for everything from rent and gas to clothes and groceries, the added burden of soaring energy costs is simply more than many can bear.
Last year, Congressman Mike Lawler helped to pass the Republican Tax Law, repealing a wide range of energy tax credits and raising already high utility costs for New Yorkers by an additional $140 a year by 2030 and $170 by 2035. Hudson Valley Congressman Josh Riley recently launched the Congressional Lowering Utility Bills Caucus in an effort to address the out-of-control energy affordability crisis, but Rep. Lawler hasn’t joined the caucus.
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. We are fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding Members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
