National Grid received a $10,000 donation from Dominion Transmission towards grants for low-income upstate residents to help pay for heat this winter.
Charles Rivers of Syracuse was one of those residents that filled out a grant application for this season. He is receiving $200 for his heating bills which is the maximum amount a customer can get.
“That really helped out a lot, especially when you have children in the house, little ones in the house, it helps out so much,” Rivers said.
Dominion Transmission is one of National Grid’s major suppliers of natural gas in New York state and has been contributing to the energy fund for several years. Brian Faison of Dominion said the cost of gas is pretty low right now.
“Hopefully it will stay that way because it is good for the consumers and good for a program like this because this money could go a lot further to help more people,” Faison said.
The energy fund helped more than 5,000 upstate National Grid customers in 2014.