Governor Hochul Announces 2.5 Million More New York Households Are Eligible to Get Discounts on Utility Bills

Under this expansion, households at or below the following income levels are also now eligible for monthly utility discounts:

New EAP Enrollment Drive

Governor Hochul has directed the Department of Public Service to begin a new enrollment push to help more New Yorkers sign up for EAP discounts over the coming weeks and months.

As part of the enrollment drive, the Department of Public Service will do targeted digital advertising and work with other state agencies to use direct mail, email, and/or texts to inform more New Yorkers about EAP eligibility and enrollment information.

Social services agencies will cross-reference customers enrolling in other programs to EAP, agencies will partner with community organizations to attend in-person enrollment events, and utilities will directly inform customers on the enrollment process.

State agencies dealing with the public will also promote the program on their digital boards inside their public-facing offices.

Assemblymember Grace Lee said, "New York families are already stretched thin, and harmful federal policies are driving energy costs even higher. I thank Governor Hochul for making sure more households can access the relief they deserve. Half of all New York households may qualify, and I encourage every eligible New Yorker to visit ny.gov/eap and enroll."

Governor Hochul's Energy Affordability Agenda

Throughout her time in office, Governor Hochul has targeted relief for energy ratepayers. Just this week, the Governor announced that $1 billion in energy rebate checks will go out to 8.2 million eligible households beginning September 21.

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.

Since taking office in 2021, Governor Hochul has prioritized making life easier for New Yorkers. That includes more than $6.6 billion (not including the $1 billion energy rebate checks being sent out this fall) that has been provided to participating households in direct utility bill relief, 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 also put in place an Energy Affordability Agenda that puts New York families ahead of big energy companies to help address rising utility rates. 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 will be tied to a company's ability to perform where it matters most: people's wallets. Utilities will be 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.