As Buffalo Experiences Emergency Snow, Expect a BIG Heating Bill

BUFFALO, NY (11/18/2022) (readMedia)-- Yesterday, Governor Hochul declared a state of emergency as Buffalo gets hit with a 'paralyzing' snowstorm, with snowfall up to four feet. Lisa Marshall, Organizing Director at New Yorkers for Clean Power, issued the following response:

"As Buffalo families struggle to stay warm under four feet of snow in an unprecedented storm, they'll be faced with a sucker punch when they get the heating bill. National Fuel is already predicting a 50% increase in average home heating costs over last year. Meanwhile they're spending millions of dollars behind our backs to lobby against clean energy solutions. We can't afford to stay hooked on fuel-burning furnaces that cost more and more to run every year, and bad corporate actors that only care about lining their own pockets. It's time to move toward energy efficient heating systems like heat pumps and thermal energy networks that will cut emissions and provide protection from fossil fuel price volatility. Climate change means that New Yorkers will face increasingly severe winter storms, but Albany lawmakers can act now to keep them from going broke over it by passing the All-Electric Buildings Act and Gas Transition and Affordable Energy Act this session."

In addition to lobbying against clean energy solutions, National Fuel president, Donna DeCarolis, who is a member of New York's Climate Action Council, has been promoting an expensive, dangerous, and unworkable "solution" - blending hydrogen with gas in our pipes. This would do nothing to reduce New York's dependence on fossil fuels, while padding the payout to her shareholders and sticking consumers with the bill.

Background

The All-Electric New Buildings Act will ban gas hookups in new buildings across New York State, requiring them to be all-electric with appliances like energy efficient heat pumps for heating, cooling, and hot water, and modern induction cooktops. Last year, New York City passed its own version of the All-Electric Buildings Act, banning fossil fuel heating systems in new buildings and gut renovations across the city starting in 2024.

The Gas Transition and Affordable Energy Act ensures that New York State will be able to meet the crucial climate justice and greenhouse gas emission reduction mandates set forth in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act for buildings without sticking everyday New Yorkers with the bill for misguided expansion of the gas system. It will allow gas utilities to invest in safer, cheaper, non-pipe alternatives to new gas infrastructure to protect New Yorkers from spiraling infrastructure costs and enable zero emissions alternatives to the gas system. It also puts a price cap of 6% of annual income on electricity bills for low and middle-income consumers to ensure electricity stays affordable.