WIN Climate Launches Digital Campaign for NY HEAT Act to Save New Yorkers $75/month on Energy Bills

NEW YORK (05/31/2023) (readMedia)-- Today, grassroots organization Win Climate launched a digital ad campaign targeting Assembly Corporations Committee Chair Ken Zebrowski and Assembly Energy Committee Chair Didi Barrett, demanding that they move the NY HEAT Act that would save New Yorkers $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."

Today's ad buy demands that Assembly Members Zebrowski and Barrett protect Hudson Valley families instead of siding with the oil and gas executives featured in the leaked video. The ad is produced by grassroots activist organization Win Climate and backed by Spring Street Climate Fund.

View the ads here.

Juan-Pablo Velez, founder of Win Climate, said, "Our elected officials have a choice to make: will they side with families who are struggling to pay their heating and cooling bills, or with oil and gas companies that want to maximize their profit, no matter what it does to regular people and the planet? We want to make sure that choice is clear."

John Raskin, president of Spring Street Climate Fund, said, "The oil and gas industry is getting rich off our high energy bills and using that money to lobby against laws that would make energy cheaper. Our elected leaders need to stand with their constituents and the planet, not with industry players just desperate to protect their profits."

Smarter New York Energy is another industry front group committed to protecting profits over energy savings for everyday New Yorkers, just like New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, whose tax filings show that its mission is "to expand natural gas service." Both groups have the appearance of a grassroots coalition, but are founded and run by fossil fuel executives.

NY HEAT would cap energy bills at 6% for low- and middle- income families, saving them up to $75 per month. With summers getting hotter due to climate change, New Yorkers are facing especially high cooling costs. NY HEAT 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. With 52 co-sponsors in the Assembly, the bill currently has a majority of Democrats supporting it, but Assemblyman Zebrowski refuses to bring it to a vote in his committee.

The final state budget included the first-in-the-nation All Electric Building Act, which will require new buildings in New York to use efficient electric heating and appliances starting in 2026. But families stuck on the aging gas system could see their energy bills rise by thousands of dollars, according to a new report from the Building Decarbonization Coalition. Win Climate and many other grassroots organizations are demanding action on the NY HEAT legislation in order to protect families from rising costs – today's ad buy specifically asks for the help of two influential committee chairs whose support would help the bill win passage in the State Assembly.

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.