March 18, 2026
The fees are too damn high (Guest Opinion by Raj Goyle)
Syracuse Post-Gazette
Raj Goyle for NYC Comptroller - For the People of New York
Money is power. New York State has both. Now let's use it to fight for you.
The Issues
What I'll fight for as Comptroller
FIGHT
utility rate hikes
New Yorkers are drowning in energy bills — with 1.3 million households behind two months or more on payment, owing nearly $2 billion — yet Con Edison and National Grid keep filing for rate hikes that the Public Service Commission quietly and repeatedly approves.
Meanwhile, five of the state’s major utilities increased their profits by 63% over the past decade for a combined $3.17 billion in 2024. Profits for Con Edison alone, the state’s largest private utility, went from $1.13 billion in 2015 to $1.89 billion in 2024. The Comptroller has the power to audit these decisions — to follow every dollar from rate cases to consumer bills — but the current Comptroller has been asleep at the wheel. As Comptroller, I will audit utilities and the Public Service Commission, use our nearly $300 billion pension fund to force transparency, and push for a Ratepayer Rebate & Clawback. I will also push for an AI Data-Center Fair-Share Fee so tech companies driving up grid demand pay their share instead of passing costs on to working families. If utilities raise your bill, someone needs to hold them accountable.
DIVEST FROM
fossil fuels
Climate change isn't just an environmental crisis; it's a financial one.
The Comptroller controls nearly $300 billion in pension investments, yet the incumbent continues to invest money into fossil fuel companies that are destroying our planet and increasingly becoming stranded assets. This is detrimental to the climate and to retirees. The incumbent reneged on his promise to divest from fossil fuels.
**“As Comptroller, I’ll fully divest from fossil fuels and redirect those billions into clean energy, renewable infrastructure, and climate solutions that create good-paying jobs right here in New York.”**
Major pension funds worldwide are divesting because fossil fuel investments carry massive long-term risk as the world transitions to clean energy — it’s time New York’s pension fund reflected our values and protected our future, not subsidized companies.
DIVEST FROM
foreign bonds
The current Comptroller has underperformed the market and the NYC pension fund for years, wasting billions on excessive Wall Street fees for cookie-cutter approaches and investing in opaque foreign bonds.
If the state pension had simply matched the performance of other major funds, it would be worth tens of billions more today. As Comptroller, I will use best-in-class investment strategies to identify proactive investments and maximize returns for New York pension holders, including investing more here in New York.
**“This includes the disinvestment of the New York pension from all foreign bonds.”**
It’s the Comptroller’s basic fiduciary duty to avoid risky foreign bonds with mediocre returns, but the incumbent continues to play political favoritism. At the very least, public pension funds should not and will not be used to fund human rights violations and war crimes abroad.
INVEST IN
affordable housing
The incumbent has invested in Florida condos and Chicago real estate while New Yorkers face a historic housing crisis, and parents struggle with child care costs. That's backwards.
**“As Comptroller, I’ll redirect more pension capital to building housing right here in New York State — treating it as a core asset class that benefits New Yorkers while delivering solid returns.”**
Every dollar we invest out of state is a dollar not working for New Yorkers. It’s time the pension fund built communities here, created jobs here, and helped families afford to stay here.
As your next Comptroller, I will use every ounce of power in this office -- every dollar, every day -- to make your life and your family's life better. Some politicians have forgotten what power is for. Power is for you, so let's take it and use it.
Join us in Building a Movement!
This is a campaign for the people, powered by the people. Your contributions will enable us to deliver our message directly to voters, build our campaign together, and take back our power.
For New York statewide voters, your contribution up to $250 can be matched 6-1.
Meet Raj
Raj is a former legislator, ACLU attorney, entrepreneur, and reformer who has spent his life taking on entrenched systems and winning.
In statehouses, courthouses, and the startup trenches, Raj has seen how those in power keep us in the dark about how our money is used and spent by the government and Wall Street, and he has spent his career fighting back against those broken systems and broken markets to protect working people.
Growing up as a brown kid in 1980s Kansas, Raj was inspired by FDR, JFK, and LBJ -- leaders who amassed political power to use it to better people's lives and transform communities. As your Comptroller, Raj will fight to make the Democratic Party rise again.
Endorsed By
Why the Comptroller?
Why the Comptroller?
The New York State Comptroller is one of the most powerful state offices in America, but the establishment wants you to think it's powerless. It's not.
The Comptroller controls pension funds worth nearly $300 billion and audits over $250 billion in state spending. It influences housing, healthcare, utility costs, and just about every facet of working New Yorkers' lives.
And yet, for 20 years, that power has been squandered by an incumbent who refuses to utilize the office to fight for working people. The Comptroller protects our public pension fund dollars, provides oversight for New Yorkers' hard-earned dollars, and has the power to hold corporations and public offices accountable. As New York falls under attack by the Trump Administration, our state needs an advocate and fighter in the Comptroller's office, not just an accountant and bean counter.
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