Massive Utility Debts In NY May Cause Your Rates To Increase

There's good news...and there's bad news. National Grid says that approximately 70,000 households owe an average of $2,300 to the company for utility services in the arrears. The debt that these households and small businesses accumulated are from the Covid pandemic. The good news is that there's a potential plan to wipe out the debt with a bailout from New York State. The bad news is that it's something we all might pay for in the end.

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NY Utility Rates Will Likely Rise With $672 Million Bailout of Customer Debt

New York utility regulators are considering a plan to pay off $672 million in debts that the customers racked up before May 2022, that have been left unpaid. According to Syracuse.com, the cost of the bailout will likely be passed on the all utility customers in New York State.

The bailout plan was crafted by the seven-member Public Service Commission along with utility companies, consumer advocates and state agencies. The commission's next meeting is on January 19, 2023, and they may vote on the plan then.

National Grid Donates $500,000 To Buffalo Residents After Deadly Blizzard

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More than 10,000 National Grid customers in Buffalo were without power for a significant amount of time during the deadly blizzard that happened during Christmas weekend. Now, the company says that it is contributing $500,000 to residents as they continue to recover from the historic storm. The company's shareholders will provide the funds to regional charities that are working with families and people directly affected by the storm. Rudy Wynter, National Grid’s New York President, said,

We recognized during the restoration process that recovering from the blizzard would be as much of a humanitarian effort as it would be about resolving power outages. We said at that time that we would be here long after the lights were back on to support our customers, and this is one way we are fulfilling that promise.

If you need help paying your utility bill, HEAP is available.