Add The New York Post on Google Labor and construction industry groups lashed out at Democratic Rep. Josh Riley and pushed back against his claims that two bills he pitched would bring down energy costs.
The Hudson Valley lawmaker touted legislation in a new advertisement that would restrict executive bonuses when rates rise faster than inflation — and also ban foreign ownership of utilities.
“These bills will not lower costs or change the work that needs to be done,” said Steve Carroll, president and business manager of the IBEW Local 320 labor union, which represents Central Hudson employees performing maintenance work.
Supposedly pro-union Congressman Joshua Riley is taking heat from labor groups over a pair of utility bills looking to stymie rising energy prices in the district. Getty Images “Our members build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps power flowing across the Hudson Valley. We need to keep investing in the grid and the skilled local workers who make reliable service possible,” he continued.
While Riley introduced the two bills to squash rising energy prices, labor leaders slammed the legislation as misguided and said they ignore the investments utilities have made to modernize the energy infrastructure in the district.
“We consider Congressman Riley a friend to labor, but the proposed legislation doesn’t reflect what the people building this region and the communities they serve actually need,” Todd Diorio, president of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, told The Post. “Our members want lower bills and more reliable power, and we don’t see these bills providing either.”
“Congressman Riley continues to say that he’s ‘“’taking on utilities’” ‘without addressing the day-to-day needs of its workers or customers,” Roman Cefali, business manager and financial secretary of IBEW Local 10, said in a statement.
Riley senior adviser Mauranda Evans pushed back — noting the congressman is seeking $2.5 million for a new line-worker training facility at SUNY Delhi and has called for investing the grid.
“Josh’s fight is with foreign-owned utility monopolies taking hundreds of millions out of Upstate while demanding families pay more,” Evans said.
“NYSEG sent $450 million to its Spanish parent company while preparing to seek more than $500 million in higher rates,” she added. “Central Hudson sends about $80 million a year to its Canadian parent company. Then they come back in rate case after rate case asking Upstate families for more.”
Riley’s campaign pushed back against the claims, saying that he’s pushing for line worker training funds and taking on foreign-owned utility monopolies. Getty Images Riley, who has held on to the seat stretching from the Catskills to Ithaca since 2025, is facing a re-election battle against Peter Oberacker — the GOP State Senator who bizarrely saluted his Nazi grandfather in a Veterans Day post.
The volatile swing district has over 540,000 registered voters, with around 20,000 more registered Democrats than the roughly 170,000 registered Republicans and almost 150,000 registered independents.
