Letter to Editor: Pass The New York HEAT Act
The NY HEAT Act (A4592) would lower utility bills for many of us, and it would help shift to cleaner heating. NY Assembly must pass this bill before June 7!
NY HEAT would cap utility bills for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers at 6 percent of their income. That would mean paying 156 dollars less on utility bills every months on average for one in four households in Suffolk County, according to a recent report from the NY Renews Coalition and Win Climate think tank. Passing this bill would keep many families warm over many winters to come.
The bill would also tackle an outdated law that requires utilities to supply gas to any customer who wants it — and subsidizes the gas system’s expansion, in other words: gives these companies tax payer money to do that. The HEAT Act would repeal that subsidy, known as the “100-foot rule”.
Don’t get this wrong: No one would have to give up their existing gas heating or stove because of this bill. Only if you built a new home, you might learn that a gas hookup isn’t as cheap a before, or the utility company won’t want to install it and offers cleaner energy instead. In the long run, the bill would allow the state to shift entire neighborhoods off fossil fuels, provided it could maintain a reliable supply of alternative energy.
This is about making heating affordable and climate-friendly, plain and simple. Let’s get this done before before June 7th. Call our representative Fred Thiele – thank him for co-sponsoring the bill –and tell him: Don’t come home without passing NY HEAT!