Democrats Slam New York Republican For Utility Ties Amid Energy Affordability Worries

ALBANY, New York — National Democrats are lambasting swing district Republican Rep. Mike Lawler for purportedly being beholden to utilities as they beat the affordability drum.

The crux of the attack on Lawler is twofold: He’s gotten more campaign contributions from utility interests than other battleground candidates since July, and he lobbied for a utility-aligned group before being elected to the state Assembly in 2020.

“Voters deserve to know whether Mike Lawler is working for them or for the utility executives padding his campaign account,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi.

The effort to link Lawler to utilities reflects a national reckoning over rising energy costs — and the associated blame game as both energy companies and politicians seek to pin down a culprit and proffer solutions to assuage voter concerns. It’s a key piece of the broader affordability debate that will be crucial to determining the outcome of the looming midterm elections.

Lawler holds a vulnerable House seat in the Hudson Valley north of New York City and is a prime target for Democrats seeking to flip Republicans’ narrow majority. The Democratic primary is competitive, with a fragmented field.

There’s just one big problem with the attack: Plenty of Democrats — and both the Republican and Democratic campaign committees — also get lots of utility donations.

“They’re taking the money they’re decrying,” Lawler said in an interview. “They control the state of New York.”

Democrats in Albany and elsewhere are targeting utility profits and politically insulated regulators who approve rate increases. The latest salvo from the DCCC bets that utility campaign contributions — which have historically benefited both parties — could become toxic.

National Democrats have been hammering Republicans over energy costs linked to Trump’s tax bill, which is proving to be a weakness for some vulnerable House members.

In New York and other blue states, this fierce debate over energy costs includes a potent counterpunch from Republicans, who place responsibility squarely at the feet of Democratic incumbents.

They point to Democratic efforts to dramatically reshape energy systems by shifting off fossil fuels — even when those policies are in early stages or, as in New York, have been delayed by Gov. Kathy Hochul over cost concerns.

National Republican operatives attacked Rep. Josh Riley, who has slammed utilities over high energy bills, by linking him to the costs of transitioning New York to renewable energy earlier this year.

Lawler has also taken up this mantle, linking the state’s 2019 climate law and the closure of the Indian Point nuclear plant to increased energy costs. He said Hochul and legislative leaders and “these fucking disastrous policies they’ve put in place” are responsible for rising energy costs.

“What control do I have over state policy? Democrats have controlled the state since 2017, and it’s their policies that have driven up energy costs,” Lawler said.

Policies linked to New York’s climate law are contributing to energy bills to some degree, driving about 7.6 percent of an average monthly electricity bill for NYSEG customers in 2024, according to a state report. Volatile and rising natural gas prices have also driven costs higher, particularly in recent months.

The state’s Public Service Commission, whose members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, has in recent years approved major increases in utility rates to pay for maintaining and upgrading the gas and electric system. Utilities argue those investments are needed to ensure the safety and reliability of the system, improve storm response recovery and accommodate state policies.

Lawler has received $18,000 from utility-linked political action committees since July, according to POLITICO’s review of federal campaign finance data. This amounts to a very small drop in the bucket for Lawler, who reported raising $1.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 alone.

National Democrats are linking the contributions from utilities to Lawler to his vote for President Donald Trump’s signature legislation that rolled back clean energy support and cut corporate taxes.

“From defending devastating rate hikes to backing bills packed with his former clients’ priorities, Lawler has built a record of putting these utility companies ahead of Hudson Valley families — and now he’s getting rewarded for it,” Vashi said.

Utility contributions to Lawler are more than other battleground candidates, although Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who faces a tough reelection fight on Long Island, also received contributions totaling $16,000 over the same period. And Democratic Rep. Paul Tonko, who is the ranking member on a key House energy subcommittee and is expected to easily win reelection, raked in $20,500 from utilities.

For all of 2025, Democratic and Republican House and Senate campaign arms received almost equal amounts of contributions from utility groups. Since July, Republicans have outraised Democrats.

"It's rich that the DCCC is attacking Congressman Lawler over utility PAC contributions when they've taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very same donors — including NextEra, Exelon, Avangrid, Duke Energy, and others — just this cycle alone,” Lawler’s communications director and senior adviser Ciro Riccardi said. “This is the definition of hypocrisy.”

Lawler bucked his Republican colleagues and pushed to protect subsidies for clean energy in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, although he still voted for the measure. That’s a position aligned with electric utilities and renewable developers.

“Many of them were pushing against the bill because of the changes to the [Inflation Reduction Act] credits,” Lawler said of utilities.

The Democratic committee is also attacking Lawler for his work for a utility and fossil fuel-linked group. In 2020, Lawler lobbied for New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, which has opposed state climate policies, according to state records.

He promoted the group’s pro-gas views publicly as executive director of the group and in emails to POLITICO at the time.

Lawler testified against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s efforts to eliminate natural gas use in large buildings and raised concerns about the state’s renewable energy efforts.

New Yorkers for Affordable Energy was primarily backed at the time by fossil fuel companies, including gas-only utility National Fuel Gas, and labor unions, according to an archived website.

But its many members also included Energy Coalition New York, a group set up by New York’s utilities including Con Edison and Avangrid’s upstate utilities. Con Edison and Avangrid are among Lawler’s recent utility contributors.

“This argument [from Democrats] is absolutely absurd,” Lawler said.