Gov. Kathy Hochul did the right thing last week by pulling a proposed New York Power Authority rate increase for hydropower.

The authority was asking to triple its hydropower rates from $12.88 per megawatt-hours to $33.05 per megawatt hour over four years as well as make some other changes that concerned organizations like the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier and the state Association of Public Power.

“Today, I’m calling for an end to the Power Authority’s unacceptable proposal to raise electric rates on its customers statewide,” Hochul said. “Too many New Yorkers are already falling behind on their energy bills and I will do everything in my power to reign in these astronomical costs. While I recognize the Power Authority’s critical importance in providing invaluable, clean, baseload power from its large hydroelectric power plants Upstate, I expect NYPA to go back to the drawing board, shelve this existing proposal, and figure out a better way forward.”

Part of the governor’s better way forward needs to be helping undo some of the state actions that have led NYPA and other power producers to the point of these hefty rate increases that are being proposed. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act has helped create this environment by boosting electric demand while at the same time decreasing electric supply by removing coal and natural gas from the power grid before renewable energy sources can replace them.

The cost to build renewables in the scale necessary to meet the CLCPA’s required greenhouse gas emission reductions can only drive up costs on ratepayers. We’ve already been paying for the state’s renewable energy dreams through renewable energy credits and zero emission credits that show up on your electric bill as a fuel adjustment charge. But what we’re looking at over the next few years makes the increases of the past few years are like comparing a rain drop to a flood.

So we’re glad Hochul ended the NYPA rate increase. It would have been devastating for Jamestown residents and for new businesses like Electrovaya that promise to be large electric users. But not changing the power landscape in New York means NYPA is going to have no choice but to come back for a rate increase in the near future. It’s up to Hochul and the state’s figurative legislative power brokers to make sure that doesn’t happen.