Spitzer: invest in new energy now

During a March Construction Industry Forum, co-sponsored by the New York Building Congress and New York Construction, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer expressed concerns that the City’s electricity supply is not keeping up with demand.

In a wide-ranging address in which he laid out some basic tenets of his governing philosophy, the Attorney General described the State’s experience with energy deregulation as a limited success and criticized State government for not entering into the type of long-term power commitments that would help developers obtain financing for approved generating facilities. “We have to invest in energy, and we must do it immediately,” he said.

He added, “New York is still the most taxed and indebted State in the nation. We have incurred debt to fund operating costs,” which he continued, “is not a rational way to do business” because it does not produce long-term capital assets in return. 

If elected Governor, Attorney General Spitzer said he would seek to increase the amount of federal funding received by New York State. “We are losing 15 cents of every dollar we send to Washington,” he lamented, noting that such shortfalls make it more difficult for New York to undertake critical, multi-year infrastructure investments.

He concluded by stating that genuine economic development requires the public sector to concentrate on investing in infrastructure systems, such as transportation, housing and schools, rather than on individual businesses and industry sectors, which is a function best left for the private marketplace.