Ordinary New Yorkers need energy bill relief. Let's pass NY HEAT Act | Opinion

AI-assisted summary
• New York residents are protesting Con Edison’s proposed rate hikes as energy bills become increasingly unaffordable.
• The NY Home Energy Affordable Transition Act (NY HEAT) aims to transition New York away from fossil fuels, saving residents money and providing better energy options.
• NY HEAT would end subsidies to the gas industry and prevent customers from being locked into using expensive, outdated gas systems.
• The Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act would eliminate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry, saving the state money and reducing the burden on taxpayers.
• New York legislators are urging Governor Hochul to prioritize these acts in the state budget to alleviate the affordability crisis and promote a cleaner energy future.

Rising utility bills and affordability are top of mind for many New Yorkers. Consumers are fed up and protesting against Con Edison’s proposed 11% electric and 13% gas rate hikes in Westchester and New York City. Who can blame them: 1 in 7 New York households are two months or more behind on their energy bills, and 1 in 4 households pay more than 6% of their income on energy costs. As elected officials, we regularly hear from worried constituents wondering what can be done. Fortunately, we have an opportunity to take action in the upcoming state budget.

New Yorkers are paying more every year for the same outdated, dirty system, when we could be paying less for new, better technology. The NY Home Energy Affordable Transition Act, known as NY HEAT, is a forward-looking plan that transitions us away from fossil fuels. It will save New Yorkers money on their utility bills while providing modern heating, cooling and cooking options that work better.

The status quo is both unaffordable and bad for our health and the climate. Currently, utility customers are forced to subsidize the expansion of the fracked gas system, spending over $200 million each year because of a law called the "100-foot rule" that allows new customers to pay little or nothing for all the pipes and equipment and labor required to connect them to the system. NY HEAT will end those subsidies.

NY HEAT will also free New Yorkers from the outdated gas mandate (also known as "the utility obligation to serve gas"), a law that locks utilities — and consequently the majority of New Yorkers — into the dirty, expensive, aging gas system for heat. Because of the gas mandate, a single customer who wants to stay on the gas system can prevent an entire neighborhood from having the opportunity to receive cheaper, cleaner heating alternatives instead of the costly replacement of old pipes. Every new mile of gas pipeline costs an average of $3 to $6 million — $60,000 per customer on that line — all subsidized by existing ratepayers. The NY HEAT Act would require utilities to provide easy access to the most affordable and healthier heating options for New York families.

Utility customers are also on the hook for $150 billion in coming years to replace leak-prone gas pipes, an average of $35,000 for every gas customer in the state, installing infrastructure that must be phased out in less than 30 years. Con Ed’s recent rate increase requests nearly a billion dollars per year in ratepayer funds for maintaining the gas system, with nearly half of it earmarked for replacing leak-prone pipes with new ones. NY HEAT will end this wasteful spending.

NY HEAT will also help the New York State Public Service Commission meet its goal of protecting residential customers from paying more than 6% of their household income for energy bills. This could save struggling households an average of $136 each month on their energy bills. Helping struggling customers actually saves all ratepayers money, because the utilities pass the costs of unrecoverable bill arrears on to other ratepayers.

Utilities profiting from unnecessary new investments in fracked gas infrastructure isn’t the only way the state subsidizes the oil and gas industry on the backs of ordinary New Yorkers. As the industry earns record profits and accumulates massive wealth, the state continues to offer it an astounding $1.8 billion annually in various tax exemptions.

With our state experiencing an affordability crisis and a simultaneous multi-billion dollar budget deficit due to expected withdrawal of federal funding, it is time to rethink these handouts. Repealing oil and gas industry tax subsidies will help close the budget gap and provide revenues for public benefit.

The Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act would amend the tax code to remove about $350 million of these annual tax handouts to the oil and gas industry while preserving tax breaks that benefit lower- and middle-income New Yorkers. 

We urge our colleagues in the legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul: Rather than giving our money to the oil and gas industry, let’s prioritize saving money for ordinary New Yorkers, by passing the NY HEAT Act and the Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act in the final budget.

Liz Krueger is a state senator representing parts of Manhattan, and Jo Anne Simon is an Assemblymember representing parts of Brooklyn. They are the sponsors of the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition, or NY HEAT, Act and the Stop Climate Polluter Handouts Act.