Overview
- The state will begin mailing POWER one-time rebate checks on Monday, Sept. 21, to about 8.2 million eligible households, using $1 billion approved in the spring budget.
- Officials are running a broad enrollment drive for the expanded Energy Affordability Program after nearly 1 million households enrolled and state estimates show about 2.5 million more are eligible.
- The expanded program raises income caps in some urban utility areas so that, for example, one-person Con Edison and National Grid NYC customers earning up to about $113,400 and four-person households up to about $162,000 may qualify.
- Political reaction was immediate as Gov. Kathy Hochul defended the timing and said the checks were negotiated and lawful, Republican nominee Bruce Blakeman called them an election-year gimmick, and the Working Families Party announced its endorsement of Hochul.
- Analysts and the New York Independent System Operator say higher residential bills reflect a mix of factors including rising natural gas prices, tighter supply, aging grid infrastructure, and the costs of recent grid investments, and the state’s longer-term relief depends on enrolling households in recurring discounts and addressing those structural drivers.