On Wednesday, Governor Hochul announced a major relief program for residents and businesses in New York State struggling to pay past-due utility bills.
According to Hochul, a total of $672 million will be distributed to 478,000 customers and 56,000 small businesses, making it the largest utility customer financial assistance program in the state’s history. Additionally, 80,000 New Yorkers who make under $75,000 will receive a discount of $200 million as relief for high electricity bills.
The program, which was approved by the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC), aims to avoid a statewide termination of service and to make utility bills more affordable. “To address this major problem, the PSC has approved measures to strengthen and improve utility energy affordability programs to reduce consumer energy burden and address low-income customer needs,” PSC chair Rory Christian said.
This announcement comes after the PSC expanded their investigation into RG&E and NYSEG for alleged mismanagement of customer billing. The Department of Public Service reported a 60% increase in customer complaints from the past two years.
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