One of the big fights in next year’s state legislative session may be over whether the state is better or worse off after deregulating the electric industry a decade ago.
Today, a report by the energy retailer-backed group Capitol Hill Research Center said that deregulation has helped New York with a broader selection of electric providers and disputed recent reports that deregulation has fueled a huge jump in costs to consumers.
The group says that between 1996 to 2007 in New York, rates for all customers (residential, commercial and industrial) increased by just 1.3 percent, if adjusted for inflation.
It disputes a report in October by the group Power in the Public Interest that found energy prices have soared 18 percent since 1999. That report found that in states with regulated markets, though, the price of electric has declined.
James Watson, director of Capitol Hill Research Center, based in Albany, said the increases can’t be blamed solely on deregulation and that the Power in the Public Interest report is flawed.
“There’s a lot more to this picture than meets the eye,” Watson said. “It’s a far more complicated equation. ”
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, Westchester County, has introduced legislation to end utility deregulation and move it back to a more regulated industry, saying the experiment with deregulation has failed.
He knocked the latest report as being written by “the people who made the money” off deregulation. “They are the owners of the plant,” he said.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s said today that they will fight a motion Monday by a major real-estate appraiser to dismiss Cuomo’s lawsuit that alleges the company colluded with banks to inflate the value of homes.
Last month, Cuomo filed a lawsuit that claims eAppraiseIT, a subsidiary of First American Corp., “caved to pressure” from Washington Mutual Inc. to use appraisers who allegedly inflated home appraisals. Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan, has since suspended its relationship with the company.
But First American Corp. is seeking to throw out the lawsuit in a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Cuomo said the motion should have been filed in state court, where the lawsuit emanated. He also defended the suit.
A statement from Cuomo’s spokesman Jeffrey Lerner states:
“This is a meritless motion made in the wrong court.
“First American’s vain attempts to raise procedural roadblocks should not distract from the damning facts laid out in great detail in the complaint: First American and its subsidiary eAppraiseIT colluded with Washington Mutual to inflate the appraisal values of tens of thousands of homes.
“We intend to move to remand the matter to New York State court, where the case belongs. Attorney General Cuomo will continue to fight appraisal fraud and mortgage fraud on behalf of New York consumers.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants President Bush to clarify whether he means to keep US troops on permanent bases in Iraq.

The recently signed Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship Between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America doesn’t explicitly indicate that the US will not seek and will not maintain permanent military bases in Iraq, despite the clear will of Congress and the American people, Clinton wrote in a letter to Bush.

A day after Barack Obama announced that Oprah Winfrey would campaign for him in some early primary states, Hillary Clinton has countered with her own not-so-surprising celebrity endorsement.

Singer/actress Barbra Streisand, who has a history of supporting the Clintons, has announced her support for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, according to a press release by the campaign.

“Madame President of the United States…it’s an extraordinary thought. We truly are in a momentous time, where a woman’s potential has no limitations,” Streisand said in the release. “Hillary Clinton has already proven to a generation of women that there are no limits for success. She is driven by her passion for public service and her belief in the enormous potential of our country. Smart, capable and strong in her convictions, Hillary has transcended the dictates of what is thought to be possible for our time. ”

A Hillary Clinton presidency, Streisand added, would: “shatter through that glass ceiling for all women.”

Clinton, in the release, said she was honored to have Streisand’s support.

“Barbra has used her immense talent to be an advocate for truth, justice, and fairness and I deeply appreciate her confidence in my candidacy as we work together to change the direction of our nation.”

To support global guidelines to reduce carbon emissions and expand the use of alternative energy options, Hudson Valley activists have planned an event on December 8.

Pace University Environmental Law Professor Nicholas Robinson will lead the disscussion. Pete Seeger and others will provide the music.

The event is sponsored by Philipstown for Democracy; MidHudson Progressive Alliance; Scenic Hudson; WESPAC Foundation; Clearwater, Inc.; Beacon Sloop Club.

It begins at 2 p.m. at the Tabernacle of Christ Church, 485 Main St. in Beacon, next to the Howland Cultural Center.

The event was planned to coincide with hundreds of others worldwide emphasizing the importance of strong global guidelines to replace the Kyoto Protocol which will be retired in 20012.

Thomas Cousins, the husband of state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, died yesterday after a pro-longed battle with cancer, Tom Staudter, a spokesman for Stewart-Cousins confirmed.

Staudter said the cause of death was kidney failure. Cousins, 63, had a cancerous kidney removed seven weeks ago and had been hospitalized ever since.

“The operation took a lot out of him and that was that,” Staudter said. “In the end, he died of organ failure.”

Staudter said he had yet to receive information about Cousins’ funeral arrangements.

UPDATED: Staudter just sent us this: “Calling hours will be at Whalen & Ball Funeral Home, 168 Park Avenue, Yonkers, NY, on Thursday from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM. Funeral services will be private. The phone number for Whalen & Ball is (914) 965-5488. In lieu of flowers, Sen. Stewart-Cousins and her family have requested that donations be made to the American Cancer Society in memory of Mr. Cousins. The address of the Westchester Regional Office of the American Cancer Society is 2 Lyon Place, White Plains, NY 10601; the phone number is (914) 397-8851.”

Sorry about those pesky technical difficulties yesterday. But we’re back on line, and here’s some catch-up for the stories you might have missed…

Nutritionists and restaurant owners had their say last night about a proposed Westchester County calorie-count posting law. Meanwhile, a proposal to expand the county’s Human Rights Commission is back on the move.

Kieran Michael Lalor announced his bid for the Congressional seat currently held by John Hall. Lalor charged in his announcement that Hall supported a Senate bill with a controversial $1 million earmark to build a Woodstock festival museum, but Hall’s representatives say Lalor is wrong—that the earmark wasn’t in the Senate bill that Hall voted on.

Sen. Hillary Clinton knows all about earmarks—among the 2008 presidential contenders, she’s the one who has racked up the most, according to Brian Tumulty, our man in Washington.

Rockland County’s finances are heading from 2007 to 2008 in the red.. This probably won’t help the county executive’s hopes of getting a raise.

This is probably not an honor he wanted, but Gov. Eliot Spitzer has topped CNN analyst Bill Schneider’s list of top political turkeys. The governor beat out such tough contenders as Sen. Larry Craig and John Edwards’ $400 haircut.

See more here.

Port Chester Democratic Chairman Gary Stracuzzi is hosting a petition-signing rally for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign on Monday evening. The goal is to gather signatures to help Clinton secure a spot on New York’s Feb. 5 primary ballot.

“Because New York’s primary has been changed from March to February there is very little time to organize a door to door petition drive since signed petitions must be returned by early December,” Stracuzzi said.

Stracuzzi said all Democrats who live in the 18th Congressional District — Rep. Nita Lowey’s district — are welcome to attend the event, which takes from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Port Chester’s Carver Center, 400 Westchester Ave. A free buffet dinner will be served.

New York’s two presidential candidates were both in their home states for Thanksgiving.

Hillary Clinton, according to her campaign schedule, was in Chappaqua but had no public events.

Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, spoke at an invitation-only luncheon at the ESPN Zone in Times Square for relatives of cops and firefighters who died in the World Trade Center attacks. Read more here