{"id":117896,"date":"2020-11-23T02:48:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-22T23:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/cuomo-proved-nys-independent-regulators-are-merely-his-pawn\/"},"modified":"2020-11-23T02:48:43","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T23:48:43","slug":"cuomo-proved-nys-independent-regulators-are-merely-his-pawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/cuomo-proved-nys-independent-regulators-are-merely-his-pawn\/","title":{"rendered":"#Cuomo proved NY’s ‘independent’ regulators are merely his pawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Cuomo proved NY’s ‘independent’ regulators are merely his pawn<\/strong>”
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\n It\u2019s long been an open secret that Gov. Andrew Cuomo insists on total obedience from all his app<\/a>ointees, no matter how independent New York law says they\u2019re supposed to be. But now it\u2019s impossible to pretend otherwise \u2014 after the gov last week announced the decisions of a top \u201cindependent\u201d commission that hadn\u2019t actually decided yet.<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u2019s office on Thursday announced that\u00a0Con Edison and other utilities had been fined $127 million in penalties over their\u00a0response to blackouts in the wake of Tropical Storm Isaias. Oops: The state\u00a0Public Service Commission, which supposedly decides such things,\u00a0was still discussing whether to issue a \u201cshow cause\u201d order<\/a>, which would give each utility 30 days to explain why it shouldn\u2019t be fined.<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u00a0announced that all that due\u00a0process is a fraud: He wants the utilities fined, and \u201chis\u201d Public Service Commission is going to do it, even if it goes through the motions over the next month. In short, he is ignoring the law he is sworn to uphold.<\/p>\n

If the gov weren\u2019t dictating the results, the\u00a0process would lead to either a negotiated settlement (and hence\u00a0a lower penalty) or an evidentiary hearing. But Andrew Cuomo isn\u2019t interested in evidence \u2014 he wants to score populist points by insisting he make the utility pay through the nose.<\/p>\n

And his team won\u2019t even pretend to respect the law.<\/p>\n

After a reporter tweeted that the process actually wasn\u2019t finished<\/a>, Cuomo\u2019s new special counsel for ratepayer protection,\u00a0\u00a0Rory Lancman, replied<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019re not pursuing slaps on the wrist, or cost-of-doing-business shrugs from these utilities. Serious sanctions, serious reform \u2014 period.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added a direct threat to pull the utilities\u2019 licenses, tagging Con Ed and Orange and Rockland Power: \u201cRevocation looms.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have no idea whether the utilities deserve to be fined, but it\u2019s obvious that King Cuomo has decided already \u2014 and the Public Service Commission has to jump when he says \u201cfrog.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the utilities go to court, they can easily argue that this blatant travesty arguably invalidates any and all PSC decisions under Cuomo, as\u00a0the commissioners\u2019 professional judgment is plainly irrelevant to how they vote. But will even judges dare cross him?<\/p>\n

The Legislature voted the gov near-dictatorial emergency powers to face the pandemic, but he is seizing absolute powers even where the law says otherwise. This isn\u2019t leadership, it\u2019s thuggery.\n <\/p><\/div>\n