After serving on the board of the New York Power Authority since 2015, Anthony Picente, the Republican Oneida County executive, has resigned, citing disagreements with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration. Picente said it is a “matter of good conscience” to resign and cites policies differences on the environment, economy and public safety.

Picente argues that he is in favor of renewable energy but raises concerns about the speed that the policies are being implemented at. In his resignation letter to the governor, Picente writes that these decisions “that will impact people’s lives and livelihoods … need more thought, more discussion and certainly more input from the entire state.”

Picente, who is running for a fifth term in the county executive’s office, told Capital Tonight that the resignation isn’t a tool “to score points in my re-election” and adds he hoped GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin would be victorious or the Hochul administration would change policies or the speed that they were being implemented at. Picente said he will continue to push against policies he disagrees with from his county executive role rather than as a NYPA trustee.