50+ NYS Lawmakers Urge Governor Hochul to Curb Record Utility Costs, Sign Repeal of Outdated 100-Foot Rule

ALBANY, NY (09/09/2025) (readMedia)-- More than 50 Albany lawmakers sent a letter to Governor Hochul urging her to sign S8417 / A8888, legislation to repeal the outdated "100-foot rule" mandate. The "100-foot rule" effectively forces New York families to subsidize utility profits by allowing them to expand the costly, outdated and polluting fracked gas system on ratepayers' dime and charge New Yorkers more on their energy bills. Governor Hochul has publicly committed to ending the 100-foot rule two separate times in her budget proposals, and now she can deliver on that commitment by signing this bill into law.

Read the full letter here and attached.

As the cost of building and maintaining our aging gas infrastructure continues to rise, utilities across the state have raised rates to pass those costs onto customers and keep us hooked on a fracked gas system that is already unaffordable. Since 2022, every major New York gas utility has raised costs on consumers, causing more than 1.2 million families to fall behind on their energy bills. At the same time, the Trump administration has threatened federal energy affordability programs, making state action even more essential.

Repealing the 100-foot rule subsidy would remove the mandate that requires utility customers to pay for the cost of new hookups to the gas system. The bill is the most significant legislation passed this year to address New York's energy affordability crisis, and will save New Yorkers an estimated $200 million every year once Governor Hochul signs it into law.

In the letter, lawmakers write, "New Yorkers should not be paying millions to companies that are abusing outdated laws in order to bring in record profits. Repealing the 100-foot rule would end this mandated surcharge, freeing families from the requirement that forces them to pay for the cost of entirely new residential hookups to the gas system."

Lawmakers also write that ending the 100-foot rule would help advance New York's green energy transition by "ending the forced expansion of fracked gas pipes at ratepayers' expense." Read the full letter here.

The letter comes as other states across the country consider ending similar subsidies for gas utilities. Last month, Massachusetts state regulators issued an order to end their own version of the 100-foot rule, joining California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maryland as the first states to repeal outdated gas mandates that cost ratepayers more money.