Con Edison’s recent $14/month gas rate hike and National Grid’s proposal to raise gas bills by $30/month serve as stark reminders of the triple jeopardy New Yorkers face from our dependence on fossil gas: the intensifying climate crisis, deadly pollution, and energy cost inflation. 

The good news is that there is an active bill in the State Legislature, called the New York Home Energy Affordable Transition (NY HEAT) Act. With Governor Kathy Hochul now backing key provisions of the bill, it is poised to enable significant progress on all three of those fronts. 

One important provision of this bill would implement New York State’s goal of limiting households’ home energy bills to six percent of their earnings. This could yield average monthly savings of up to $75 for a quarter of all New York City households and for a third of Black and Hispanic households.

This bill also does a lot more, and for all gas customers of all incomes. 

Many New Yorkers are unaware that new gas hookups worth thousands of dollars each are given away at no or minimal cost, and existing customers pick up the tab of more than $200 million each year. Even steeper costs arise from  maintaining and operating  aging gas distribution networks. In its last rate request, Con Edison asked for $1 billion a year in ratepayer funds for maintaining gas system reliability and distribution integrity, with 40 percent of it earmarked for replacing leak-prone pipes. A quarter of National Grid’s proposed rate hike for New York City customers stems from new or renewed infrastructure.

Natural gas is mostly methane – an extremely powerful greenhouse gas. The utilities like to claim that they are advancing the state’s climate goals by stemming methane leaks. That is just clever paltering though, because New York’s climate Scoping Plan emphatically recommends strategic planning and eventual downsizing of the gas network to achieve the state’s climate objectives, not wastefully laying brand-new pipes at the cost of $6 million per mile. State legislation also encourages creating  utility thermal networks for district heating and cooling, with dramatic energy savings. Replacing leak-prone pipes with thermal energy conduits could build lasting energy infrastructure and offers a way for unionized workers with pipe-laying and pipefitting skills to transition to the all-electric future.

Whether it’s installing service lines for new customers or replacing existing mains, the utilities love laying new pipes because they pass up to 110 percent of the cost to ratepayers. No, that’s not a typo; they do lock in an 8–10 percent guaranteed return on investment – profits earned at the cost of ratepayers and our climate. 

To make matters worse, these costs are usually added to utility bills based on an anticipated 60–80 years of service life that the new pipes will never see. Heating and cooking with gas isn’t just going out of style; it will also be out of compliance with New York’s climate law by 2050. This means that ratepayers will be on the hook to continue paying for decades after the pipes are retired. 

The NY HEAT Act would modernize State laws governing utility regulations to address each of these issues. 

New York's landmark climate law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), mandates that the state reduce emissions of planet-heating gases by 85 percent over 1990 levels by 2050. The NY HEAT Act is a key CLCPA-implementation bill that would help slowly wean buildings off polluting and climate-destroying methane marketed as “natural” gas. In response, gas utilities and their front groups have unleashed  lobbying and disinformation campaigns targeting ordinary New Yorkers and the state’s lawmakers with fear-mongering and distortions to defeat this bill. 

They’ve succeeded in delaying progress until now. Last year, the HEAT bill passed in the State Senate, but could not overcome opposition in the Assembly and a lack of support from Governor Hochul. However, based on the agenda the governor outlined earlier this month in her State of the State address, major provisions of the NY HEAT Act appear to be in play this year. 

Specifically, the governor’s proposals will repeal an outdated provision of the State’s Public Service Law that prevents utility companies from offering cleaner and cheaper alternatives to fracked gas to its customers. This will enable the utilities to redirect wasteful investments slated for expanding or refurbishing the obsolescent gas infrastructure towards transitioning gas customers’ homes to modern, pollution-free water and space heating appliances. The governor also proposed repealing the so-called “100-foot rule” that forces existing gas customers to subsidize expansion of the polluting gas delivery infrastructure.

With the Senate supporting all provisions of NY HEAT and the governor now supporting some of the key ones, all eyes are on the Assembly, where the bill has 74 sponsors and is a budget priority of the powerful Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus. The Speaker of the Assembly and the chairs of key committees such as Governmental Operations, Energy, and Environmental Conservation could play a decisive role in determining whether the bill is included in the Assembly’s one-house budget proposal and how serious the Assembly is about implementing the state’s climate law.

This is a pivotal moment for climate policy in New York. Will Albany actually follow through on statutory emissions commitments, or will the fossil fuel industry again stop meaningful progress?

Anshul Gupta is policy and research director for New Yorkers for Clean Power.

Photo by: betterenergy.org