Governor Hochul: “I'm calling on the Department of Public Service to reject Con Ed's proposal for these exorbitant rate increases. Here I have a letter that I'm sending to the DPS Chair and CEO, Rory Christian, that I’m going to sign right now that expresses my strong objection to what they're proposing to do to New Yorkers at this time, when they just don't have the money to pay these bills.”

Hochul: “I'm not stopping there. I'm also directing the Department of Public Service to conduct a first of its kind audit of management compensation across the board […] I want to make sure that they're being responsible in how they use our ratepayer dollars.”

Earlier on Feb 11th, Governor Kathy Hochul announced new steps to protect consumers from sky-high utility costs that are making New York less affordable. In a letter to Public Service Commission Chair and Department of Public Service CEO Rory Christian, Governor Hochul calls for the rejection of Con Edison’s proposed rate hike. Governor Hochul also directed the Department of Public Service to conduct a statewide audit of utility company salaries and compensation to ensure New York ratepayers are getting a fair deal.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

?Good morning and thank you. I don't need to tell any of you that New Yorkers are facing a crisis of affordability. From the gas pump, to the grocery bills, to the monthly rent, and yes, to the utility bills — the costs of daily life just keeps going up and up and up. And I'm particularly concerned about how these costs are affecting our seniors.

You know, these are people living on fixed income. They've earned their wages and now they have a finite amount of money coming in, mostly from their social security checks. These are our parents, our grandparents, our neighbors — but what is so distressing to me is that the number of older New Yorkers who are now living in poverty has jumped over 50 percent. Think about that.

At this point in their life, when they should be enjoying the golden years, after a lifetime of work and raising families and contributing to their communities, they find themselves in poverty and struggling to pay their bills. And these are the ones who've got more prescription drugs than the rest of the population. They have medical bills, they're trying to get to the doctor, and as I mentioned, utility bills. You know, to keep the heat warm in the wintertime you have to keep it turned up.

As much as you'd like to keep your costs down, you have to turn the heat up. And that's why, from the very beginning, my administration has been laser focused on doing everything in our power to keep costs down for people of all ages.

You think about what we just proposed in our Executive Budget: tax cuts. The largest tax rate reduction for the middle class in 70 years. Our inflation rebate, which says because everybody paid so much more for everything and we collected more in sales tax, resulting in an additional $3 billion, I want to put that back in people's pockets.

Also, covering the cost of child care, helping people with little kids with our child and infant tax program. Covering the cost of meals in schools, and there's so much more. But the ultimate goal is not to just help New Yorkers get by, but actually to get ahead. But all of a sudden, when something happens, when we're trying to put money back in these pockets and there's other forces taking money out of their pockets, now we've got a problem. And I'm talking about efforts to raise utilities here in the City of New York for 3 million ratepayers by anywhere from 11 to 13 to 14 percent. Shocking.

And this is a real hit on families. They didn't budget for this. They weren't planning for this. And these bills going up upwards of $500 a year — I'm trying to put $500 back in their pockets because of the inflation rebate, and it's going to go right out the door to pay this bill? Come on, how are they supposed to get ahead? This is intolerable to me.

And I want to say this: I've talked to too many parents. I've gone to local restaurants. I've gone to shopping malls. I've talked to everybody. Anybody who'll talk to me, I talk to. They're proud to live in this state. They love this state. They want to raise their kids here. But it's getting harder and harder, and I've got to say we're listening to them.

And that's why on Feb 11th, I'm calling on the Department of Public Service to reject Con Ed's proposal for these exorbitant rate increases. Here I have a letter that I'm sending to the DPS Chair and CEO, Rory Christian, that I’m going to sign right now that expresses my strong objection to what they're proposing to do to New Yorkers at this time, when they just don't have the money to pay these bills.

I'll sign it now and make it official.

This is a statement of my priorities as Governor: protect our citizens from the costs of everything going up, and start with their utility bills. And I'm going to make sure they understand how important this is to me. But I'm not stopping there. I'm also directing the Department of Public Service to conduct a first of its kind audit of management compensation across the board.

Because a lot of people are saying, “Why am I paying this, when they're getting paid this much from that money?” I want to make sure that they're being responsible in how they use our ratepayer dollars. So the burden is already heavy. You just listen to people, you listen to someone who's switching to dirtier heating oil because you can't afford his gas bills.

We are trying to transition to a clean energy future so raging forest fires that we saw in our own state, don't ever match what we saw in Los Angeles. That the flooding events that we see elsewhere, don't become the norm here in New York. The extreme weather we're experiencing, worse flooding, worse extreme temperatures, hottest temperatures, coldest temperatures. It's all happening right now in our state.

The culprit is climate change and we are standing up strong against that. I don't want people to have to continue using dirtier fossil fuel-based energy because they can't afford these bills. That's why we have to stand up and say, “No more.” Nor should families be dipping into their emergency savings just to pay these bills.

I'm going to continue making New York more affordable. I want you to know that. I'm a fighter. I'm going to stand up and say, “No, go back to the drawing board and figure this out, but you're not going to get that kind of rate increase from our hard working New Yorkers, particularly our seniors,” — who are represented by Beth Finkel here today, representing AARP, who has a message to tell all of us about what this does to seniors.

If we don't start paying attention, then shame on us. They deserve a better life. They've given enough to New Yorkers. They've given enough to their families. They've given enough to their communities. And now it's time for us to start taking care of them.

With that, let me bring up Beth Finkel and thank her for her great support for our seniors across the state.