NYSEG Sends $450 Million to Spain, Files for 35% Rate Hike. Langworthy Has Not Responded.

NYSEG paid a $450 million dividend to its Spanish parent company Iberdrola in February 2025, then filed for over $500 million in rate increases four months later. Rep. Josh Riley (NY-19), whose district shares NYSEG service territory, formally intervened in the rate case, cross-examined company executives under oath, introduced three utility accountability bills, and launched a congressional caucus. Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23), whose constituents face the identical rate hikes from the identical utility, has issued no public statement on the case, introduced no ratepayer protection legislation, and has never questioned NYSEG executives — despite sitting on the House Energy Subcommittee with direct jurisdiction over utility regulation.

Why This Matters for NY-23

NYSEG provides electric service in every core county of Langworthy’s district — Chemung, Tioga, Steuben, Schuyler, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Allegany, and parts of Erie. In Chemung, Tioga, Steuben, and Schuyler counties, NYSEG is the primary electric provider. Tioga County is split between NY-19 and NY-23, meaning some constituents share the exact same utility and the exact same rate hikes but have representatives with markedly different responses.

If approved, a typical residential customer using 600 kWh per month would see their electric bill rise by approximately $33 per month (23.7%). A typical residential gas heating customer would see an additional $33.57 per month (33.5%). As of August 2025, 110,658 NYSEG households were already in arrears on their utility bills, and NYSEG and sister company RG&E reported 13,393 service terminations.

The Timeline: Dividend, Then Rate Hike

In plain language: NYSEG sent $450 million to its foreign owner while it was already preparing to ask New York ratepayers for over half a billion dollars more per year. The state’s own auditors had already found the parent company puts profits ahead of customers.

What Langworthy Has Not Done

After searching Langworthy’s official website, press releases, social media, local news coverage, and legislative records through February 2026:

In plain language: Two congressmen represent constituents served by the same utility facing the same rate hikes. One intervened formally in the rate case, introduced legislation, and cross-examined executives. The other has not publicly acknowledged the rate case.

Riley’s Engagement: A Detailed Comparison

Riley’s intervention is documented in detail because it shows the range of actions available to a member of Congress on this issue.

Formal intervenor status (July 23, 2025): Riley petitioned the PSC for party status in NYSEG’s rate case — Cases 25-E-0375 (electric) and 25-G-0378 (gas). This grants legal standing to access evidence, submit arguments, cross-examine witnesses under oath, and file motions. According to Riley’s office and press reporting, he appears to be the first sitting member of Congress to formally intervene in a utility rate case. He also intervened in a separate Central Hudson Gas & Electric rate case.

Investigation and constituent survey (April 2025): Riley launched a formal investigation into NYSEG billing practices. The survey received approximately 2,000 responses within 24 hours and approximately 5,000 total.

Three utility bills:

Congressional Lowering Utility Bills Caucus (January 22, 2026): Co-founded with Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA-07), with 16 founding members from 10 states. Langworthy is not a member.

Cross-examination under oath (February 18, 2026): Riley personally questioned NYSEG executives at the PSC evidentiary hearing in Albany. Under oath, executives confirmed the $450 million dividend to Iberdrola paid while the company was already preparing the rate increase filing.

What Langworthy Has Done on Energy Instead

Langworthy is not inactive on energy — his public energy activity has focused on state climate policy rather than utility company conduct.

On February 20, 2026 — the same day Riley’s cross-examination of NYSEG executives made headlines across the Southern Tier — Langworthy was in Dunkirk telling constituents: “Families are struggling to afford their energy bills because Albany’s extreme policies have prioritized unrealistic electrification mandates over reliability and affordability.”

What the PSC’s own data shows: State climate policies account for 5–9.5% of the average household’s electric bill — roughly $10–$12 per month. The dominant cost drivers are delivery charges (which NYSEG controls and profits from) and natural gas commodity prices (which NYSEG’s own spokesperson identified as the primary supply cost driver). The NYSEG rate case is entirely about delivery charges, not clean energy surcharges.

See also: Langworthy Blames Clean Energy for Costs That Natural Gas and Utility Profits Actually Drive

The Corporate Structure: Where the Money Goes

NYSEG’s profits now flow to a single foreign owner through a corporate chain that is no longer subject to SEC public reporting requirements:

NYSEG → Avangrid Networks → Avangrid Inc. → Iberdrola S.A. (Bilbao, Spain)

Iberdrola completed its $2.55 billion acquisition of the remaining 18.4% minority stake in Avangrid in late 2024, making Avangrid a 100% privately held subsidiary. Avangrid was delisted from the NYSE, removing SEC public reporting requirements. Internal cash flows are now entirely opaque to the public.

Iberdrola’s scale: Net profits of approximately €5.6 billion (~$5.85 billion) in 2024, a 17% increase year-over-year. The U.S. represented 35% of Iberdrola’s €41 billion 2024–2026 investment plan.

The disputed net flow: Riley claims a $1.6 billion net outflow from NYSEG to Spain since Iberdrola’s 2008 acquisition. NYSEG CEO Patricia Nilsen counters that Avangrid provided $990 million back to NYSEG since 2015. The different timeframes make both claims potentially accurate simultaneously. Neither has been independently verified through publicly available documents — resolution will likely come through the ongoing PSC evidentiary hearings.

What is not disputed: NYSEG sent $450 million to its foreign parent in February 2025 and filed for over $500 million in rate increases four months later, while 110,658 households were already in arrears.

The Statewide Context

The NYSEG case is not isolated:

• 1.3 million New York households are 60 or more days behind on utility bills, owing nearly $1.9 billion
• 430,000 New Yorkers were near the brink of service termination as of June 2025
• A Census Household Pulse Survey found 37.6% of NY households reduced or skipped necessities like food and medicine to afford energy bills
• New York electricity prices of 26.95 cents per kWh sit roughly 50% above the national average
• NYSEG and RG&E were fined over $15 million for failing to meet customer service benchmarks

In plain language: Utility affordability is a crisis affecting over a million New York households. The question is whether elected officials address the utility companies’ conduct alongside state policy — or only one side of the equation.

Why “Documented Pattern”

This entry is rated DOCUMENTED PATTERN because it fits a recurring dynamic across Langworthy’s energy record: public activity on state policy paired with silence on utility company accountability. The existing fact-check on his Dunkirk Conservation Club appearance documents the same framing — attributing costs to Albany mandates while omitting utility profit extraction. The Energy Choice Act entry documents the same dynamic in legislative form. Across multiple settings and formats, the pattern is consistent: state government is identified as the problem; utility companies are not addressed.

Questions This Raises

1. Langworthy sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee — the committee with direct jurisdiction over utility regulation and the Public Utility Holding Company Act. Has he used this position to examine Iberdrola’s corporate structure, Avangrid’s financial practices, or any aspect of foreign-owned utility accountability?

2. NYSEG serves every core county in NY-23. What would Langworthy’s response be if constituents asked him directly about the $450 million dividend and subsequent rate increase filing?

3. The PSC audit found Avangrid “prioritizes corporate earnings, not the needs of NYSEG and RG&E.” This is a finding by the state’s own regulatory body. Has Langworthy acknowledged it?

4. Riley’s bipartisan No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act was co-introduced with a Republican (Rep. Van Drew). Would Langworthy co-sponsor a bill that limits executive compensation at utilities raising rates on his constituents?

5. 28 county boards have passed resolutions opposing the rate hikes. Do any of those counties fall within NY-23? If so, has Langworthy engaged with their concerns?

Related Fact-Checks

• Langworthy Blames Clean Energy for Costs That Natural Gas and Utility Profits Actually Drive — The misleading framing at the Dunkirk Conservation Club on the same day Riley cross-examined NYSEG
• Energy Choice Act: What the Bill Does, Who Supports It, and What It Leaves Out — Langworthy’s flagship energy bill and what it does and does not address

Sources

PSC Rate Case:

• NY PSC Cases 25-E-0375 (electric) and 25-G-0378 (gas)
• NY PSC Management Audit (May 19, 2025) — 128 findings, Avangrid “prioritizes corporate earnings”

Riley Actions:

• Riley.house.gov: Intervenor filing (Jul 2025), Investigation launch (Apr 2025), Cross-examination press release (Feb 20, 2026)
• Congress.gov: H.R. 5487 (Keep the Lights Local Act), H.R. 6590 (No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act), H.R. 1355 (Weatherization Enhancement and Readiness Act)

Langworthy Record:

• Langworthy.house.gov — zero results for NYSEG, Avangrid, or Iberdrola

Corporate/Financial:

• Iberdrola 2024 Annual Results
• Avangrid NYSE delisting (2024)

Statewide Data:

• NY PSC September 2025 report — climate policies account for 5–9.5% of electric bills
• Census Household Pulse Survey — 37.6% of NY households reduced necessities for energy bills

All information in this entry is drawn from publicly available sources including PSC filings, congressional records, official press releases, and corporate financial disclosures. The absence of Langworthy statements was verified through comprehensive searches of his official website, press releases, and news archives.

Last updated: February 25, 2026