{"id":348154,"date":"2026-09-16T09:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348154\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T09:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T09:24:25","slug":"new-york-launches-enrollment-push-for-energy-affordability-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348154\/","title":{"rendered":"New York launches enrollment push for Energy Affordability Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (WBNG) — New York state officials launched a new statewide enrollment campaign on Tuesday to expand participation in the Energy Affordability Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While roughly 1 million households currently receive monthly utility discounts, state estimates show an additional 2.5 million qualifying households have yet to sign up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Washington Republicans keep driving up the cost of energy, gas and groceries, I\u2019ll never stop working to help New Yorkers keep more money in their pockets,\u201d Governor Hochul said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I expanded access to our Energy Affordability Program \u2013 a move that will save residents across the state up to $500 annually on their energy bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program provides income-based monthly credits designed to keep household energy expenses under 6% of total earnings, saving participants hundreds of dollars each year.<\/p>\n

Following expanded guidelines that took effect in January 2026, eligibility now extends to residents earning below the state median income, as well as those below area median income thresholds in New York City, Westchester and Nassau counties.<\/p>\n

Families currently enrolled in the Home Energy Assistance Program or Temporary Assistance receive the utility credits automatically through the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. However, privacy regulations prevent automatic enrollment for participants in several other benefit programs, requiring those households to submit an online application.<\/p>\n

Eligible programs requiring self-enrollment include SNAP, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, federal public housing assistance and veterans\u2019 pensions, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew 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,\u201d said Assemblymember Grace Lee.<\/p>\n

Qualified residents can sign up through the state portal at ny.gov\/EAP<\/a> to begin receiving the monthly credits.<\/p>\n

Under this expansion, households at or below the following income levels are also now eligible for monthly utility discounts:<\/p>\n

Household SizeConEd & National Grid NYCNational Grid Long IslandNational Grid Upstate New York and all other NY utilities1$113,400$115,450$69,4772$129,600$131,950$90,8543$145,800$148,450$112,2324$162,000$164,900$133,6095$175,000$178,100$154,9866$188,000$191,300$176,3647$200,900$204,500$180,3728$213,900$217,700$184,380<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Department of Public Service is coordinating with multiple state agencies and local utilities to increase program awareness.<\/p>\n

The outreach push will incorporate targeted digital advertising, direct mail, text alerts, in-person enrollment events and public office displays.<\/p>\n

Visit Gov. Hochul\u2019s website<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WBNG. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (WBNG) — New York state officials launched a new statewide enrollment campaign on Tuesday to expand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3640,9,24,55,54,56,130209,130208],"class_list":["post-348154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-florida","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-throws-bucket-of-poop-on-neighbor","tag-woman-threw-bucket-of-poop-on-neighbor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}