Today we continue our series previewing local, contested elections across the Finger Lakes as we sit down with one of the candidates for Cayuga County Clerk. Earlier this year longtime Clerk Sue Dwyer announced that she would not seek re-election. That has since set into motion a competitive race for the job. Kristine Lytle joined us via Zoom to discuss her candidacy, the most-important issues she sees facing the clerk's office, and how she would work for the residents of Cayuga County to address them.

Today we continue our series previewing local, contested elections across the Finger Lakes as we sit down with one of the candidates running for Canandaigua City Council. Guy Turchetti has lived in the city since the early 1990s, and says Canandaigua is poised for success. He says thats in part due to solid leadership on city council over the last several years. However, he says it will require continued strong leadership to maintain that success. He was in-studio this week discussing his campaign and the ways he wants to help contribute to that success by serving city council.

Today we continue our series previewing local, contested elections across the Finger Lakes as we sit down with one of the candidates running for Geneva City Council. James Petropolous says he wants to help the city be better, through civil government that works for its staff and residents. He joined us via Zoom this week to discuss his campaign and goals if elected.

AARP New York is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a proposed utility rate hike.
New York State Electric and Gas, and Rochester Gas and Electric are proposing a 62% electric delivery rate increase for customers. Both utilities said the increase would be used to help pay for climate change initiatives. Experts estimate the increase would force customers to pay $900 over the duration of the proposed increase.
Bill Ferris, legislative representative for AARP New York, said it could harm already flailing ratepayers.
"There are close to over 130,000 people in the NYSEG area who are 60 days behind on their bill," Ferris pointed out. "If you look at the same data, there's over 70,000 people in the NYSEG area who received a final termination notice, and 1,500 people were terminated this year in the month of August."
He added upstate ratepayers are already facing stark poverty rates. The New York State Comptroller finds in Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, one in four people was living in poverty in 2021. The state's Public Service Commission will vote on whether to approve the rate increase today.
Outside the governor's intervention, Ferris noted a piece of legislation could help ratepayers afford their utility bills. He described how the bill's implementation of data matching can aid ratepayers.
"If someone is on this Energy Affordability Program, and they're on the HEAP program -- which is a program helping people pay for those bills -- use the data between those programs, and enhance and increase the roles of people to get them more of a benefit, of a low-income benefit," Ferris outlined.
Although the bill passed both chambers of the New York State Legislature, it has yet to be signed by Gov. Hochul. Recently, separate legislation was approved to protect consumers from surprise energy price increases. The measure requires energy service companies to get customers' consent before any material prices increase.

Today we continue our series previewing local, contested elections across the Finger Lakes as we sit down with Geneva Mayor Steve Valentino. The Democrat was endorsed by Republicans ahead of a contested primary in June, in which he was defeated by Jan Regan, who joined us last week in-studio for a conversation about her campaign and the issues in the city. Valentino says he's drawing from experience on city council and first term as mayor, as he looks ahead to a possible second.

Today we continue our series previewing local, contested elections across the Finger Lakes as we sit down with Michael Mills. He's running for Canandaigua City Council and says he entered the race to drive economic development, protect the city and region's natural resources, and increase collaboration between local governments. He joined us via Zoom for an interview ahead of Election Day to talk about his campaign and more.

Today we continue our series spotlighting elections for local office across the Finger Lakes as one of the candidates seeking to represent voters in the city of Geneva joined us in-studio. RJ Rapoza is in the midst of a competitive campaign for Geneva City Council in Ward 4. He talked about his desire for a city council that's more unified and effective, as well as policies that he thinks can benefit all residents.

What makes a good prosecutor? That question is central to the debate happening in Seneca County about who should lead the District Attorney's office moving forward. On Monday, we caught up with John Nabinger, an attorney with decades of experience, who is running for DA. He talked about his experience, the core reasons he's running, and how he feels the office can be bettered for county residents and victims of crime.

On this edition of FLX Today we continue our spotlight of local elections with one of the candidates running for Canandaigua City Council. John Nagle-Caraluzzo is running to represent voters in Ward 3, and hopes to bring a fresh perspective to city government. He has an optimistic view of the city's trajectory, but says some things can be changed to make it even better for families and community engagement.

The state of New York has taken steps to ensure its building decarbonization plan is on track, but more work needs to be done.
Earlier this year, the state implemented an all-electric buildings law, which prohibits installation of fossil-fuel systems in new buildings. The law takes effect for small buildings in 2026, and in 2029 for large buildings.
Deb Peck Kelleher, deputy director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York, described the work being done to decarbonize older buildings.
"Through NYSERDA, the state's research and development authority which offers incentives and rebates for homeowners and building owners to make those investments in their homes to weatherize them, to insulate, and to electrify them by installing heat pumps," Kelleher outlined.
Utility companies in the state also offer the incentives. State-level incentives for cold-climate air source heat pumps can be $2,000 to $3,000 for whole-home solutions. The Inflation Reduction Act provides additional funding for incentives.
In the next legislative session, there are hopes to pass bills aimed at furthering the state's decarbonization goal. One such bill is the New York HEAT Act, which was passed by the state Senate, although it failed in the Assembly in the last legislative session.
Kelleher described what the law is designed to do.
"As we start to decarbonize, our goal is to decarbonize in less than 30 years, so how do we pay off that infrastructure that we're no longer going to need?" Kelleher asked. "That is part of what the HEAT Act does. It takes a look at how can we disinvest from this infrastructure in an appropriate way that's fair and equal for all New Yorkers."
She noted New York's old building stock and skyscrapers make decarbonization a bit more challenging. Kelleher said it's important to have a trained workforce to educate homeowners about the best options for weatherization and electrification.