New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Elise Stefanik launched a broadside this week against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s energy policies. 

She criticized Hochul’s continued ban on fossil fuel exploration and her broader record on the energy sector as state utilities announced another major rate hike for homeowners.

The New York State Public Service Commission announced several utility companies have proposed monthly delivery charge increases ranging from 34% to 48%, according to reports in multiple upstate news outlets.

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Stefanik, a North Country congresswoman who is the first major candidate to challenge the incumbent, cited reports in upstate media that New Yorkers must again brace for approximately 40% hikes in utility costs in 2026, an increase of $800 to 1,000 for most residents, she said.

“Kathy Hochul’s billion-dollar Green New Deal policies that ban gas stoves and ban natural gas fracking are already driving up New York’s energy costs, which are the most expensive in the country,” Stefanik said.

“At a time when New Yorkers are living in one of the most unaffordable states in the nation, Kathy Hochul’s New York might get even more expensive.”

Stefanik called the energy situation in New York a paramount concern amid a greater “affordability crisis” statewide.

She noted Hochul continued the Cuomo-era ban on natural gas fracking, which largely covers the multi-state Marcellus Shale deposit named for a town in Onondaga County, where it is centered.

While former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf enacted a moratorium on fracking specifically in state parks, New York’s neighbor continues to see private fracking operations in action particularly just below their shared border, leading critics to point to the economic disparities between communities on the NY-17 corridor and those to the south.

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In that regard, New York Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt told Fox News Digital that Hochul’s “socialist energy policies” have “strained the grid.”

“We must repeal the unrealistic and unaffordable mandates of the Democrats’ ‘Green New Scam.’ Republicans support a diverse energy portfolio that ensures affordable options for all New Yorkers,” said Ortt, R-Niagara Falls.

In comments to Fox News Digital, Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika defended the governor’s record, saying she has been “laser-focused on affordability” across the board.

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She said Hochul’s efforts from “cutting taxes for millions of middle-class New Yorkers to lowering household energy costs,” are a sign of just that – while instead accusing congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump as the culprit for rate hikes:

“[Hochul is] standing up to Trump’s expensive tariffs while sellout Stefanik voted to jack up New Yorkers’ energy bills,” Chitika said.

Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, came under fire from the right after shuttering the massive Indian Point nuclear generating station on the Hudson River across from Haverstraw, which had long fueled a sizable proportion of New York City’s grid.

Cuomo defended the move by pointing to Indian Point’s age, record of equipment breakdowns and the prospect that it posed a danger as a potential terrorism target so close to New York City.

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Republicans, including Stefanik, have said New York Democrats have wrongly continued that trend away from reliable fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Other Democrats, meanwhile, fault utility companies for raking in elevated profits amid the rate hikes.

“In just three years, [New York State Electric & Gas] has increased delivery charges by more than 60%, and mere weeks after those hikes took effect, they filed for another 35% increase. We’re hearing from residents choosing between paying their utility bill or buying food for their children,” Assemblymember Anna Kelles, D-Ithaca, told CNY News.

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Kelles claimed one constituent received a $2,600 electric bill for a recent month, half of which was categorized as “delivery fees.”

Stefanik, meanwhile, may face company soon in her quest to take the reins in Albany.

Nassau County Executive Brad Blakeman, one of New York Republicans’ rare winners in an otherwise disastrous election last week, told the New York Post he is considering a primary challenge.

He said suburbanites in Nassau and Suffolk are upset over New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s win and the fact Hochul endorsed him, adding that his campaign would have a broader appeal to the political center than Stefanik’s.

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“The path to defeating Gov. Hochul starts on Long Island,” Blakeman said.

Stefanik is also reportedly eager to tie Hochul to the socialist mayor during the campaign. Axios reported the governor may face a challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, whom the outlet said supports Mamdani-esque wealth taxes.