NY HEAT Compromise Gains Momentum: Advocates Demand Assembly Action Before Session Ends

Today, legislators and advocates rallied in support of compromise legislation that would address New York’s worsening energy affordability crisis by ending gas subsidies and helping to lower energy bills for struggling families.

The new bills include critical elements of the NY HEAT Act, and are supported by environmental, climate, and public health organizations. The bills both passed the Senate yesterday—now the Assembly has just three days to help struggling New Yorkers and finish the job!

Both bills (S8417/A8888, S8421/A8889) would end the infamous “100-foot rule,” which requires everyday New Yorkers to subsidize utilities’ expansion of the fracked gas system that we don’t need and cannot afford. One of the bills (S8421/A8889) would also enable utilities to take a regional approach to New York’s energy transition and empower local communities to have greater say in when and how they transition from gas to cleaner, more affordable energy sources. 

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“There’s no reason that New Yorkers should be paying to subsidize aging, unsafe, expensive, dirty, and outdated gas lines in an era of abundant clean energy sources — especially as families struggle to pay for rent, food, and childcare. In an era of mass wealth transfer to billionaires nationwide, we need a different approach here in New York,” said NY Renews Executive Director Stephan Edel. “The Customer Savings and Reliability Act is a good first step toward transitioning New York State off of polluting fossil fuels. It lays the groundwork for providing cheaper, cleaner heating alternatives from utilities. The sooner we end a gas system in New York that makes the rich richer while making working people sick from toxic fumes and bankrupt by high energy costs, the better.” 

Read the full piece here.