Keeping the Heat on NY HEAT Works!

ALBANY, NY (06/06/2023) (readMedia)-- Today, the NYS Senate voted to pass the NY HEAT Act. NY HEAT would cap energy bills at 6% for low- and middle- income families, saving them up to $75 per month. The bill would also end the provision in law that requires gas customers to subsidize the expansion of the gas system, costing them $200 million every year.

"Today's vote in the Senate shows that keeping the heat on NY HEAT works. Thanks to the combined activism of movement organizations and our strategic digital ads targeting key lawmakers, Albany politicians are feeling the pressure to deliver an affordable, clean energy future for their constituents. Now the question for the Assembly is simple: will you stand with the profit-driven oil and gas industry or everyday New Yorkers who could save $75/month on energy bills with NY HEAT?" said Juan Pablo Velez, founder of Win Climate.

With 57 co-sponsors in the Assembly, the bill currently has a majority of Democrats supporting it, but Assembly Corporations Committee Chair Ken Zebrowksi refuses to bring it to a vote in his committee. Last week, Win Climate launched a digital ad campaign, backed by Spring Street Climate Fund, targeting Assemblyman Zebrowksi and Assembly Energy Committee Chair Didi Barrett. The campaign demanded they move the NY HEAT Act in the Assembly to save $75/month on energy bills and help cut toxic climate pollution.

The ads reveal leaked video of a meeting of oil and gas executives – calling themselves Smarter New York Energy – raising money for a disinformation and lobbying campaign against climate and money-saving measures like NY HEAT. In the leaked video, one executive fully admits to lobbying their own customers against a bill which would lower their energy costs: "we found that the greatest spike in letters submitted came after fuel companies sent emails to their customer base."

Background

Win Climate is a grassroots climate advocacy group that fights for climate justice at the state level.

Spring Street Climate Fund is a philanthropic fund that works to win ambitious, groundbreaking climate policy in New York that matters worldwide.

Since its founding in 2021, Spring Street has helped win legislation requiring new buildings to be fossil fuel-free; has supported a successful effort to secure a statewide mandate to transition to zero-emission school buses; and is a leading funder of a renewed grassroots push to protect Local Law 97, New York City's globally significant building decarbonization law. Spring Street is a participatory fund with no endowment; its support comes entirely from donors who believe in the opportunity to win policy change in New York with impact worldwide, and who partner with Spring Street Climate Fund to ensure their philanthropic funds are well-invested to maximize real-world impact.