Buffalo News Another Voice: Utility bills can be Trojan horses for myriad hidden costs

June 12th, 2025

Hey New Yorkers, your utility bill is broken! For decades, your utility bill has been the victim of policies and legislative mandates that have inflated costs unrelated to a utility’s core business, and legal obligation to deliver safe and reliable energy.

New Yorkers can’t voice their concerns to their elected officials when these costs remain obscured and hidden in opaque charges on a bill.

A lot of what makes up your bill is determined by government rules or the energy market. Especially over this past winter, a major cost was supply. Supply is a pass-through cost, meaning utilities do not make a profit from it. They simply buy electricity and natural gas from energy markets and deliver it at the same cost.

However, within the supply charges are government-mandated fees, like zero-emission and renewable energy charges that support New York’s clean energy goals.

The actual cost of getting energy to your business and home safely and reliably should not include hidden government programs, taxes, low to middle-income customer assistance programs, and regulatory mandates .

The bill also includes other charges, such as New York State’s Electric Vehicle Make-Ready Program. In total, approximately 60 percent of a standard residential customer’s bill consists of government-required or pass-through costs. Most New Yorkers have no idea these costs are embedded in their monthly bills.

How can we simplify the utility bill so that ratepayers know exactly what they are paying for? The “Ratepayer Transparency Act” was introduced this session to achieve exactly that objective. We support that legislation.

Once we know what’s in our bill, then we can start a real conversation on what should be funded through a utility bill or, say, the $252 billion state budget that includes funding for clean energy and social service programs. Beyond that, what programs are New Yorkers taking advantage of, or even know are available?

We need a real conversation on whether or not utility customers’ wallets are the appropriate source of funding for government programs and policies. Simplifying utility bills will help us start to untangle their complexities , so everyday New Yorkers can understand exactly what they’re paying for.

Justin Wilcox is Executive Director of Upstate United, a non-partisan business, and taxpayer advocacy coalition.