Hits: 18

NEW RATE HIKE PROCESSES IN PLACE MAKING UTILITIES JUSTIFY EXPENSES (RATE INCREASES)

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that energy rebate checks up to $200 will be sent to 8.2 million households across New York State starting on September 21. Checks will be mailed directly to eligible New Yorkers, with deliveries to continue through December. There is no need to apply, sign up or do anything to receive a check.

“As Washington Republicans continue to send the cost of everything from utility bills to gas and groceries soaring, I’ll never stop working to address the rising cost of living for New Yorkers,” Governor Hochul said. “Too many families are struggling with rising household energy bills and soaring gas prices at the pump — and that’s why we’re putting money directly back in New Yorkers’ pockets by sending energy rebate checks to millions of families as part of our affordability agenda.”

Governor Hochul’s enacted budget included a one-time $1 billion Protecting Our Wallets Energy Rebate (POWER) to help provide needed relief in the face of federal tariffs that have increased the cost of living across the board and President Trump’s war in Iran that has New Yorkers now paying on average $4.35 per gallon at the pumps, a 45% jump since the war began. Diesel has jumped 49% since the war began at the end of February to $5.98 per gallon.

POWER checks will provide $200 to joint filers with incomes under $150,000 and $150 to joint filers with incomes between $150,000 and $300,000. Single filers with incomes under $150,000 will receive $100. The rebates will be issued as advanced credit checks and will be mailed out between September and December.

Who’s Eligible for a POWER Check?

You are eligible for a rebate credit check if, for tax year 2024, you:

• Filed a timely New York State Resident Income Tax Return;
• Were a full-time resident for New York State;
• Reported income within the qualifying thresholds; and
• Were not claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s return.

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Amanda Hiller said, “Power checks are another meaningful way that Governor Hochul is trying to help people during challenging economic times. At the Governor’s direction, the Tax Department is working to get this much-needed relief to eligible families as quickly as possible

Post-COVID, the Governor announced $1.17 billion in one-time funding to allow nearly half a million residential customers and 56,000 small businesses to pay off unaffordable past utility bills, the largest utility customer financial assistance program in state history.

All told, since taking office in 2021, Governor Hochul has prioritized making life easier for New Yorkers. That includes more than $7.6 billion that has been provided toparticipating households in direct utility bill relief, including the energy rebate checks, and an additional $1.4 billion to support residential weatherization, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects that will help lower energy usage and bills for participating households.

This year, Governor Hochul put in place an Energy Affordability Agenda to help address rising utility rates.

Governor Hochul’s Energy Affordability Agenda

Governor Hochul’s FY27 Enacted Budget rewrites the rules and puts New York families ahead of big energy companies. At the heart of this effort to modernize the State’s approach to regulating utilities is a commitment to ensuring energy remains affordable.

Energy profits are tied to a company’s ability to perform where it matters most: people’s wallets.

Utilities are prohibited from passing the costs of lobbying, glossy PR campaigns, political donations, and luxury travel to New York ratepayers. Utility CEOs will have their salaries benchmarked to achieving energy affordability goals set by the Public Service Commission (PSC). And if a utility makes excess profit, that money will be returned to ratepayers.

The Governor’s Ratepayer Protection Plan:

• Stops disruptive price hikes before they take effect in the first place by demanding unprecedented fiscal discipline and transparency from utility companies. When requesting a rate increase, utilities will have to prove that their capital projects are absolutely necessary and that they’ve left no stone unturned in the pursuit of zero-emission options. They’ll also have to present a budget-constrained option that keeps their operating costs below the rate of inflation.
• Ensures a fair fight by requiring 14 months to examine rate requests by utility companies and the PSC will be able to set multi-year rate cases when they make sense for consumers. The State’s regulators will also heavily scrutinize the fees that utilities run up during the process of determining new rates. The goal is to ensure customers aren’t shouldering any costs associated with utility rate cases that aren’t legally required.
• Requires the establishment of a new energy affordability index that will expose the true impact of utility rates on everyday New Yorkers, benchmarking utility performance here against those in the rest of the nation. Going forward, utilities will be required to demonstrate exactly how any proposed rate hike will impact this index — and if a rate case pushes the average household energy burden above 6 percent, the State will be able to deploy an independent Affordability Monitor directly into the utility’s boardroom.

Additionally, the FY27 Enacted Budget establishes a RATES Commission to combat rising utility bills. New Yorkers are facing real pressure from the rising costs of energy, and addressing these price spikes requires a clear, independent examination of how energy prices and costs are passed onto consumers. The newly established RATES Commission will bring together consumer advocates and energy experts to investigate the root causes of surging utility bills, evaluate utility profits, and review energy market designs.