Opinion: Pass the Full NY HEAT Act in This Year’s Budget
Last week, I took a hike. If you commute across the Williamsburg Bridge, you may have seen our hardy group of grassroots activists wearing hiking boots, backpacks, and, critically, giant utility bills.
We walked from Brooklyn to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office in Midtown, singing songs and leading chants for the better part of two hours. At the end of the march, over 50 New Yorkers rallied to demand cleaner heat and lower energy bills. Our demand was simple: pass the full NY HEAT Act in the budget.
Our hike against rate hikes comes as Con Edison and National Grid customers face cost increases of nearly $50 every month, and as legislators debate a final state budget, expected any day now. On the table in these negotiations is the NY HEAT Act, popular legislation that would stop the consumer subsidization of New York’s fracked gas system, moving off fossil fuels and limiting household energy bills to 6 percent of a family’s income. The urgent need for this legislation could not be more obvious.