NEW REPORT: 1 in 4 New York Families Could Have Saved $1,632 Last Year If Lawmakers Passed NY HEAT Act

ALBANY, NY (04/21/2025) (readMedia)-- As winter heating season ends, a new report shows the NY HEAT Act would have saved the 1 in 4 New York families struggling to pay their energy bills an average of $1,632 last year if lawmakers passed and implemented the bill. The report, compiled by Spring Street Climate Fund, relies on data analysis from think tank Switchbox, and shows how much energy-burdened families would have saved on average in each region of the state last year:

• Western New York: $117 per month, or $1,404 this past year
• North Country: $124 per month, or $1,488 this past year
• Finger Lakes: $125 per month, or $1,500 this past year
• Mohawk Valley: $126 per month, or $1,512 this past year
• Central New York: $127 per month, or $1,524 this past year
• Southern Tier: $132 per month, or $1,584 this past year
• New York City: $142 per month, or $1,704 this past year
• Hudson Valley: $164 per month, or $1,968 this past year
• Long Island: $164 per month, or $1,968 this past year

The NY HEAT Act would limit the amount households are forced to pay for heat, alleviate rate hikes happening across the state, and save families who need help most an average of $136 each month on their bills. The Senate included the bill in their one-house budget - now it's on the Assembly to deliver for families in need.

View the report from Spring Street Climate Fund here.

"Assembly Members claim they want to save New Yorkers money, but their continued inaction is costing families thousands of dollars. Rate hikes are making it worse. The Assembly needs to pass the NY HEAT Act now, or watch more families forced to choose between eating and heating every winter," said John Raskin, President of Spring Street Climate Fund.

Background

As of September 2024, approximately 1 in 7 households in New York was two months or more behind on their energy bills. This crisis is impacting more than 1.2 million families, who are collectively in debt more than $1.3 billion dollars to utilities. According to a recent report from AGREE, since 2022, every major gas utility in New York State has raised the cost of energy for their customers:

• For Con Edison customers, the average monthly cost of gas heating has increased by nearly $50 since 2022 - from $205 to $253.
• For National Grid customers in NYC, the average monthly cost of gas heating has increased by more than $60 between 2023 and 2026 - from $110 to $172. For National Grid customers in Long Island, the average monthly cost of gas heating will increase by nearly the same amount - from $105 to $165.
• For Central Hudson customers, the average monthly cost of gas heating has increased more than $20 since 2022- from $138 to $157.
• For National Fuel Gas customers, the average monthly cost of gas heating has increased by nearly $15 - from $81 to $94 - since just 2023.

The Home Energy Affordable Transition Act, also known as the NY HEAT Act, will reduce the expansion of New York's outdated and dangerous fracked gas system and save the 1 in 4 New Yorkers who struggle to pay their energy bills an average of $136 every month. The bill modernizes archaic state laws that force New Yorkers to pay hundreds of millions of dollars each year to subsidize new fracked gas hookups and pipelines. It would limit households' energy burdens and would allow utilities to provide cheaper and clean heating alternatives at no additional cost to customers – a win-win for New Yorkers and the environment.

The NY HEAT Act will also free New Yorkers from the gas mandate (also known as "the utility obligation to serve gas"), an antiquated state law that locks utilities, and consequently the vast majority of New Yorkers, into the dirty, expensive, aging gas system for heat. Because of the gas mandate, one home that wants to stay on the gas system can be the deciding factor for an entire neighborhood that would otherwise have the opportunity to receive cheaper, cleaner heating alternatives from their utility. The NY HEAT Act would require utilities to provide easy access to the most affordable and healthier heating options for their families.

According to a Siena Poll, New Yorkers agree by an overwhelming 58% to 26% that the legislature should pass the NY HEAT Act. Support for the NY HEAT Act is popular across party lines, with 67% of Democrats, 47% of Republicans, and 55% of independents agreeing it should pass. The bill is also popular with 60% of upstate voters, 55% of union households, and across income groups. 74% of Black voters and 70% of Latino voters also support the legislation. An even larger share, 51 - 17%, said that lawmakers did not do enough to improve the quality of life during last year's legislative session.

State action against climate change is crucial as Trump takes office and vows to go all-in on fossil fuels. 2024 was the hottest year on record, and New Yorkers experienced wildfires, flooding, and tornadoes. The NY HEAT Act will help New York fight climate change and it will protect New Yorkers from an unpredictable Trump administration by helping to stabilize heat and energy prices.