New York Low-income Households to Get Electric and Gas Bill Relief

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, on June 16, announced the approval of $567 million to help low-income households pay off accumulated utility bills incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 327,000 low-income customers will benefit from the electric and gas utility bills credit program. This financial assistance includes an estimated $557 million COVID-19 bill credit for low-income customers approved by the New York State Public Service Commission. Under the program, the Commission will spend $250 million from the 2023 financial year budget to offer a one-time credit to customers enrolled in the State’s Energy Affordability Program, or EAP, which will clear outstanding utility bills accrued through May 1, 2022. The program provides the same relief for eligible low-income customers that enroll in the EAP by December 2022.

The financial relief aims to ensure that low-income households who have faced significant hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic are not deprived of power supply due to unpaid utility bills. The pandemic has caused many New Yorkers serious economic challenges. Many businesses have closed, and thousands of residents lost their jobs and means of livelihood. The bad business environment and job losses have resulted in many energy consumers being unable to pay their utility bills. Without the government’s intervention, many residents will have their lights shut off.

The credit program is designed to enable vulnerable low-income customers to avoid the danger of being denied utility services. All the financial assistance provided for utility bill relief will be coordinated to avoid duplication of efforts and give maximum benefits to ratepayers. The available reliefs include about $100 million from the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, $250 million from the New York State budget earmarked to clear all pandemic-related utility bills for low-income families, and $36 million provided by shareholders of utilities to aid ratepayers. Affected low-income customers are not required to fulfill any obligation to benefit from the initiative. The utilities will apply the credit to eligible customers’ accounts directly.