Cold winter weather is driving up energy use across New York, leaving families struggling to heat their homes. More than 175 organizations—including clean energy advocates, local businesses, and low-income assistance groups—are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to act.
They’ve launched the Building Electrification Equity Platform, a set of immediate policies aimed at lowering energy costs while moving the state toward a cleaner, more affordable energy future.
Rising Costs Hit Hard
Betta Broad, Campaign Director at New Yorkers for Clean Power and Director, Advocacy & Organizing at Association for Energy Affordability, said the crisis is urgent.
“We have been submitting this platform to Governor Hochul for the last five years…And this year, even, it’s more urgent than ever that the governor take immediate actions to lower people’s utility bills.”
She highlighted the strain on vulnerable households:
“It’s not easy, especially for people who are on fixed incomes, seniors, folks who are on delivered fuels, like propane and oil…Utility bills are starting to really hurt.”
Long-Term Solutions: Weatherization and Efficiency
Broad says programs like Empower+ and the Weatherization Assistance Program help families reduce bills and improve home comfort.
“Every New Yorker should have a home that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer…This platform has a number of different programs that we really want to see the governor ramp up investments in so that people can upgrade their homes and reduce their energy bills.”
Concerns Over State Decisions
Recent delays and approvals worry advocates:
- All-electric building law delayed:
“It is cheaper to build all-electric new buildings than not. And now…it’s just going to continue to marry more New Yorkers to this reliance on expensive fossil fuels.” - New gas pipeline approved despite environmental concerns:
“There will most likely be irreversible damage to the New York City Harbor…Downstate ratepayers are going to have to shoulder the burden of a $2 billion pipeline if not more.”
Clean Energy as an Affordable Future
The platform calls for:
- Expanded solar incentives and tax credits
- Low-interest loans for households narrowly missing program eligibility
- Investments in heat pumps, insulation, and energy efficiency
Broad says a clean energy transition would benefit all New Yorkers:
“People would be healthier, the air would be cleaner, we’d have a thriving clean energy economy, and we wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on fossil fuels out of state…We could be investing that money into helping New Yorkers improve the quality of their homes and buildings and bring them into the 21st century.”
Full details are available at beepny.org.
Image: Energy Square in Kingston, the first net zero, affordable multi-family mixed use building in the Hudson Valley, using geothermal and solar. (Credit: beepny.org)