Bill Relief Program

What is the Electric and Gas Bill Relief Program?

The Electric and Gas Bill Relief Program was designed to assist families and individuals throughout the state who experienced hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What does the program do?

Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic caused economic hardship for low-income families and individuals, Central Hudson implemented the Electric and Gas Bill Relief Program which was approved by the New York State Public Service Commission for income-eligible New Yorkers.

Residential customers who received benefits from a government assistance program (such as SNAP or HEAP) had any past-due bill balance for service through May 1, 2022, reduced by a bill credit through this program in 2022. 

In January 2023, the New York State Public Service Commission approved additional relief for customers who did not previously receive a bill relief credit. Qualifying residential and small business customers were eligible to have any remaining past-due balance from bills for service through May 1, 2022, reduced through a bill credit up to $2,000.

Central Hudson conducted additional engagement with customers who received these credits to encourage payment of their remaining unpaid balance or enter into a payment agreement. This program is now closed. 

What does this mean for my Central Hudson bill?

The program made every effort to provide real relief to the customers who needed it most while minimizing the impact on other customers. For Central Hudson's residential customers, the typical total bill impact is approximately 0.5 percent. This surcharge is factored into the existing "Miscellaneous Charges" line item on your bill, which includes various other adjustments. Click here for a description of this "Miscellaneous Charges" line and the other line items on your bill.

Why is this surcharge needed?

When the initial wave of COVID-19 struck New York, thousands of residents experienced unprecedented hardship as the State and the economy shut down in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. New York implemented a moratorium that allowed impacted customers to forego payment of their utility bill with no penalty and no threat of service termination. This moratorium remained in place until December 2021 and Central Hudson voluntarily kept this practice in place until 2023.

New York saw past-due balances on utility accounts swell to over $1 billion. Central Hudson's arrears grew to more than $100 million during this period.

Electric and gas utilities like Central Hudson pay many of the costs of operating a safe and reliable energy system up front. With the oversight and approval of the Public Service Commission, the company recovers these costs through rates and surcharges.

This program helped the most financially vulnerable customers throughout New York State regain some financial stability and allowed them to resume timely monthly utility bill payments.

What is Central Hudson doing to help all customers?

In recognizing that all of our customers were impacted by the pandemic, Central Hudson contributed $4.5 million for COVID-related issues. This contribution resulted in a reduction of delivery rates for all of our customers.