What you should know
- Low-income families in New York State will see financial help from the Financial Assistance Program reflected on their August gas and electric utility bills, which allows them to pay off past due bills so they can maintain their utility services.
- This program will directly benefit more than 327,000 low-income New York households by eliminating unpaid bills that have accumulated through May 1, 2022.
- The program also authorizes the same relief for any qualifying low-income customer who enrolls in the EAP before December 31, 2022.
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NEW YORK – Low-income families in New York State will see financial help reflected in their August utility bills for gas and electricity from the Financial Assistance Program that allows them to pay off past due bills so they can maintain their utility services, announced Governor Kathy Hochul. The move comes because the vast majority of the $567 million dedicated to helping these customers pay back utility bills will be put to work.
This program will directly benefit more than 327,000 low-income New York households by eliminating unpaid bills that have accumulated through May 1, 2022. The program also authorizes the same relief for any qualifying low-income customer. enroll in EAP before December 31, 2022.
Low-income customer credits are expected to post to customer accounts beginning August 1, 2022, and consumers can expect to see the credit in their next billing cycle. The credits will be received by the vast majority of low-income customers of major electric and gas companies on their August bills.
The Financial Assistance Program includes an estimated $557 million COVID-19 Related State Bill Credit Program for low-income customers and was adopted by the New York State Public Utilities Commission. Under the Bill Credit Program, the PSC mobilized $250 million from the approved state budget for fiscal year 2023 to require utilities to provide a one-time credit to customers enrolled in the Energy Affordability Program to eliminate bills of unpaid utilities that have accumulated through May 1, 2022.
“I am pleased to announce that the largest Low Income Utilities Financial Assistance Program in state history launches on Monday, August 1, marking a major step forward in the state’s ongoing efforts to help New Yorkers to maintain public services,” Governor Hochul said. “No New Yorker should have their lights and air conditioning turned off as a result of the financial problems caused by the pandemic. I applaud the State Legislature for its partnership to allocate $250 million to reduce the burden of utility arrears, which will be critical to helping vulnerable New Yorkers maintain their public services, especially during these hot summer months.”
The Public Service Department worked with the state’s major utilities to credit customer accounts. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant financial hardship for New Yorkers, particularly low-income consumers. Since March 2020, the number of customers who are more than 60 days behind on their electric and gas utility payments (i.e. delinquent), and the total dollar amount of arrears, has grown to unprecedented levels .
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant financial hardship for low-income customers and resulted in business closures and widespread job losses. The number of customers with unpaid utility bills has risen sharply since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and this Bill Credit Program provides financial relief to the most vulnerable residential customers to help prevent their utility bills from being canceled due to non-payment.
Under the Bill Credit Program, all state assistance available for utility bill assistance will be coordinated to ensure maximum benefits to taxpayers and avoid duplication of effort.
This one-time low-income utility bill credit, to be applied to affected utility customers’ bills, requires no action on the part of existing low-income customers enrolled in the EAP. to receive the benefit. PSEG Long Island and municipal utilities have been allocated $10.4 million of the $250 million allocated in the budget to be used for the Bill Credit Program for low-income customers. The PSC anticipates a future proposal from consumer groups and stakeholders to address the substantial increase in unpaid electric and gas utility bills for remaining residential and non-residential customers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the overall work to reduce unpaid electric and gas utility bills, Governor Hochul recently launched a new initiative between OTDA and major utilities to identify more low-income households to enroll in the EAP program, which provides discounts on utility bills that save participating households hundreds of dollars per year in utility costs.
Any newly eligible low-income customer who enrolls in the EAP before December 31, 2022 will be included in the Bill Credit Program.
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