Onondaga County advocates are joining groups from across the state to call on lawmakers to pass the New York HEAT Act as a new legislative session looms.
About a dozen local advocates met with Assemblymember Pamela Hunter this week to push for the NY HEAT Act's adoption. In a rally outside Hunter's office, advocates called on state lawmakers to pass the bill to make energy costs more affordable. Onondaga County Legislator Mo Brown said the bill is particularly important for Onondaga County residents.
"Everything's connected," Brown said. "Whether it's the environmental justice, the housing justice, the transportation justice, this factors right into that."
He and advocates like A.J. Ruther, organizing coordinator for Alliance for a Green Economy, say the bill is a step toward creating a more equitable future.
"This will really help lower those everyday household bills like utility bills, I know my family always struggled to especially afford our winter heating bill because it was so volatile," Ruther said. "You never knew if one month you were going to get slapped with a $1,000 bill all of a sudden. This would really get rid of a lot of volatility we are seeing in prices."
Ruther says the act would seek to end subsidies and cap utility bills at 6% of incomes, making energy costs more affordable for all.
"The NY Heat Act would actually cap all of our utility bills at 6% of our income so that everyone can afford to stay warm and keep the lights on," Ruther said. "I think that is a much more progressive way to structure our utility rates because right now we have people in Onondaga County, some of them are paying over 25% of their income toward energy."
