Governor Hochul and Representative Tonko Call on Trump Administration to Release Federal Heating Assistance for 1.5 Million New Yorkers

Urging More New Yorkers To Enroll in State’s EAP

The State’s EAP is separate from federal HEAP. The State’s EAP provides monthly discounts on energy bills throughout the year to households across New York. This program provides up to $500 in annual savings per household.

Eligibility for EAP is based on household income. For example, a family of four is eligible to enroll in EAP if they make up to $80,160 per year in household income. A family of five is eligible if they make up to $92,988 per year in household income.

The State’s EAP already serves approximately one million households statewide, but state officials estimate that approximately 1.5 million more households are eligible to enroll and receive discounts. New Yorkers can enroll in EAP directly through their local energy provider.

New Yorkers can visit ny.gov/EAP to learn more about eligibility and steps on how to enroll in the program.

Additionally, Governor Hochul is expanding income eligibility for the State’s EAP in 2026 to ensure that more households across New York can start receiving energy discounts in the coming year. The Governor will continue to update New Yorkers on this in the coming weeks.

Protecting EAP Discounts for New Yorkers

The delay in federal HEAP funds also threatened to disenroll many New Yorkers from their State EAP benefits. The Department of Public Service estimated this cruel action would lead to tens of thousands of customers being automatically disenrolled from receiving EAP benefits every month without State action. This is because most residential customers in EAPs are automatically enrolled in the program after their heating utility receives a HEAP grant on the customer’s behalf, which the utility credits to those customers’ utility bills. Generally, most utilities provide that those customers will remain enrolled in the utilities’ EAPs as long as they received a HEAP grant within the preceding 12 months.

The delay in federal funds for HEAP and concurrent loss of EAP bill discounts would make utility services far more expensive for those customers during the coming winter heating season. Temperatures across the state continue to grow colder, some days hitting levels below freezing, increasing the need for heating assistance to protect the health and safety of families and households statewide.

That’s why Governor Hochul took action earlier this month to ensure that New Yorkers struggling to pay their bills this winter will continue receiving EAP discounts regardless of Washington Republicans’ cruelty. Without the Governor’s action, thousands of those households would have automatically lost their November EAP discount, since enrollment in EAP is tied to enrollment in HEAP for many households across the state.