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Comments on New York state electricity subsidies

New York State subsidizes the electricity bills for some companies as a way of encouraging them to keep their business here.

If something is free or cheap, people will use more of it than they need. So in this case, more energy is being used than necessary, which means more greenhouse gases are being emitted than necessary, and more taxpayer dollars are being spent than necessary.

Policy Integrity submitted comments to energy officials in Governor David Paterson’s Administration to ask them to make changes to the program. The comments argue it would make more sense to disentangle the economic incentives from energy usage. Even if companies are given the same amount of taxpayer dollars, at least those funds can be applied more efficiently—without wasting electricity.