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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. Have you seen a spike in your home energy bills recently? It's becoming a common complaint. This was predicted going into the winter. For example, CNBC reported in the fall that "Nearly half of US households who heat primarily with natural gas are projected to spend 30% more than they did last winter on average." According to the Winter Fuels Outlook 2021 report from the US Energy Information Administration, the 41% who heat with electricity are slated to spend 6% more.

CNBC cited energy prices already up 33% on the year according to the November consumer price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fuel oil by November was nearly 60% more expensive than the previous year. Electricity up 6.5% and natural gas had increased more than 25%. The Associated Press says the biggest reason for this winter's higher heating bills is that demand has simply grown faster than production, as the economy roars back to life following shutdowns caused by the Coronavirus.

Locally, the news organization, The City analyzed data from 10 utilities companies and estimates the more than 400,000 customers in the New York City area alone are at least two months behind on their bills. With us now is the author of that article, Samantha Maldonado, reporter for the nonprofit news organization, The City, on how bad it is, and why and what you can do about it. Samantha, thanks for coming on to this. Welcome to WNYC.

Samantha Maldonado: Hi, thanks for having me.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners, help us report this story and help your neighbors around our region know they're not alone. What's been happening with your home energy bills? 212-433-WNYC. Tips on conserving energy or applying for assistance are also welcome, 212-433-9692. Help us report this home energy costs spikes story. How much are your utilities bills up this winter? Give us the numbers. Are you one of those people two months or more behind on your utilities bills? Maybe we can help you keep the heat on until spring, 212-433-WNYC. 212-433-9692, or tweet @BrianLehrer. Samantha, can you tell us how you arrived at that number of more than 400,000 people in the region behind at least two months on their bills?

Samantha Maldonado: Sure. That was data that some of the utility companies had submitted to the state. Every month they submit numbers of who's behind and by how much. Actually, the 400,000 number is just Con-Ed customers. There's 1.3 million if we're thinking about 10 utilities across the whole state. Con-Ed of course is the electricity provider for the New York City region and Westchester, some people have it for gas. If you think about National Grid and some of the other utilities too, the 400,000 number goes way up.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. You remind us that our energy bills include two main charges, the delivery charge, and the supply charge. What's the difference as a refresher and what's included in each?

Samantha Maldonado: Sure. The delivery charge is the infrastructure that pays for the wires, substations, whatever it takes for a utility to get the energy from the generator to your home or business. That is something that the utility company can make a profit on, they can make a return on their investments, and it's regulated by the state. Anytime there's a rate hike, the state must approve it through the Department of Public Service, and that goes on your energy bill in the delivery section.

The other section is the supply charge. That's where a lot of people are seeing their supply charge double or triple no matter what. That is not something that's been regulated. That's the supply of the energy itself. Con-Ed or whatever other utility has to sell it at cost, which means that they don't jack up the price, they charge you as a customer, whatever they pay for it. That price is really a function of global energy markets. As the prices fluctuate, they go up and down with supply and demand using a lot of information from the global marketplace. That's how those supply prices change.

Brian Lehrer: For people ticked off at Con-Ed or whatever the local power company is, your article points out as you just said that Con-Ed to take the New York City and Westchester power company, doesn't set those rates for energy supplies, they Just set the delivery charge rates. What's your take on why this is happening at the supply level? It's not like people heating their homes in the winter, which is entirely normal and predictable and happens every single year could have caught the markets by surprise, right?

Samantha Maldonado: Right, exactly. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why it's happening, other than it's complicated and demand is going up. Supply is also really complex, especially because the US is increasingly exporting its natural gas supply. We see globally, the supply of gas and oil, I should say, it's fluctuating.

Part of this has to do with how our climate policies are. Some people are really saying like, "Oh, we should increase our supply of gas then, we should drill for more fossil fuels to increase the supply because we are demanding it." Given our climate goals, and knowing that fossil fuels has deadly consequences to human health and the environment, there's also some policies are in place to really electrify and figure out how we can become more efficient, so we use less energy.

Brian Lehrer: This is WNYC-FM HD and AM New York, WNJT-FM 88.1 Trenton, WNJP 88.5 Sussex, WNJY 89.3 Netcong, and WNJO 90.3 Tom's River. We are in New York and New Jersey Public Radio, as we talk about the spike in the energy bills this winter. Let's take a phone call. Salvador in Greenwich Village, you're on WNYC. Hello, Salvador.

Salvador: Hello. I just want to mention that it seems last month, my bill was less than usual, and it's because I get my energy to Con-Ed, of course, but it's provided by Green Mountain Energy, which is, if I'm not mistaken, 100% renewable. I also get dividends because they sell it back to the grid. I just want to suggest to people that they should maybe go with renewable energy companies, and then their bill won't go up.

Brian Lehrer: Salvador, thank you very much. Let me put that question into larger context, Samantha, because some people sign up for alternative energy suppliers known as ESCOs, that the utilities like Con-Ed only deliver. Sometimes people choose ESCOs for environmental reasons, as Salvador was saying. Sometimes they choose them for price, depending on the one. Are they doing any better on price when Con-Ed is the supplier?

Samantha Maldonado: Well, it really depends. I have to say, I also have Green Mountain Energy, so my bill this month, and the past couple of months, has been steady, but I have to say that Green Mountain Energy's supply costs did, I think they doubled or tripled in the spring, but because I was using less energy at the time because it wasn't as cold, Salvador and I probably didn't see as big of a shift in our overall bills. Experts do warn ESCOs can offer a good rate upfront, but oftentimes, the prices are, on the whole, more expensive than Con-Ed. Often individual consumers just in terms of residential don't use enough energy to really make some of those rates worth it.

Brian Lehrer: Jim in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jim.

Jim: Hey. I'm more than a year behind on both of my National Grid and Con-Ed. I'm wondering what you've mentioned, there were resources probably available for me to help me get caught up.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, can you help Jim with that? That's one of the really useful things about your article. Tell Jim and other people who may be in this position.

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Jim: Oh, I'm sorry. Just mention the article again, and the guest because I tuned in late, sorry.

Brian Lehrer: Sure. The article is about 400,000 people in our area being at least two months behind on their energy bills, according to a data analysis based on New York state data by the news organization, The city; thecity.nyc. Is that your web address? Is that right, Samantha?

Samantha Maldonado: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: The reporter, our guest, is Samantha Maldonado. Go ahead, try to help out Jim and any other of those 400,000 people who might be listening right now.

Samantha Maldonado: Sure. I'm sorry to hear that you are very behind. You're definitely not alone. I think the first thing that I have heard for people who are behind in bills is to contact the utility company or companies that you owe bills to. They can help set up a payment plan or depending on if you're on any sort of public assistance, they can offer some discount programs as well. You can get a portion off your bill every month.

There’s also a few state-run programs such as the Home Energy Assistance Program that can offer arrears payments up to $10,000 depending on if you're eligible. If you're at risk of having your heat shut off, which may not happen right away, usually get a 35-day notice for that. There’re also some state funds you can tap into.

Brian Lehrer: Let's take another call. Stylianos in Astoria, you're on WNYC. Hello Stylianos?

Stylianos: Hi, good morning. Thank you, Samantha, for the reporting in the city regarding the gas price spike and how it's affecting our Con-Ed bills. I wanted to talk about why it's really important that we have a state policy to move us towards renewables.

Like you mentioned in the reporting, Con-Ed bills is this utility that's a private monopoly in New York City, but they don't have any control in the state New York State or New York City doesn't have any control over the actual energy system. Even right now as we're seeing Russia invade Ukraine, there's going to be an incredible amount of gas, fracked gas, and natural gas pipeline volatility in the market worldwide.

What we really need to do is switch to a more stable and much more lower-cost energy, such as wind or solar. We really desperately need the state to do that. I'm part of a socialist activist group, New York City-DSA, and we're really pushing something called public power, which would allow the state to directly build and own renewable energy generation.

Right now, New York State is at 4% and New York City gets over 90% of its energy from fracked gas. I feel like these things are going to keep happening our bills are going to keep spiking and we're going to keep putting in all of our money to private gas corporations unless we do something about it.

Brian Lehrer: Stylianos thank you very much. Jean-Marie in Brooklyn you're on WNYC. Hello, Jean-Marie. Do we have Jean-Marie in Brooklyn here? Did I say your name right?

Jean-Marie: Yes. Good morning, Mr. Brian, how you doing? I love your show all day every day. I just have the questions. I'd like to dispose I'm a little bit behind, behind my two bills, the electricity, and the gas. I would like to know what should I do to work with the company if I have to go to a payment plan with them and then try to catch up because I don't want to be late on my bills.

I have one more thing maybe because [unintelligible 00:12:55] the gas area, but I just couldn't see it because I have a tenant, a worthless tenant in my apartment, and then they use the gas on purpose, and they use the electricity on purpose. They use the energy like crazy that made the bill go so high. I would like to know, what should I do?

Brian Lehrer: Right. If I understand you correctly, your own bill is going up and you have a tenant who is using gas and electric like crazy and that's also making your bill go up. Did I get you right?

Jean-Marie: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you. What can he do? Are there programs for renters and for that matter, are there programs for owners of their own homes and very small landlords, as it sounds like Jean-Marie is?

Samantha Maldonado: Yes, there definitely is. I know that some of the utility companies offer financial incentives to help use less money both for tenants and for landlords. They can also offer some home energy assessments to try to figure out where in your home you can ratchet up energy efficiency.

There’re also some fixes, if you can afford to make them, that will probably save you money on the other side often just helping to make stronger your building envelope. That way you can use less energy and the energy that you use maybe keeps your house warmer or cooler, depending on the season.

Brian Lehrer: You also mentioned in the article that for people who receive food stamps or temporary assistance or social security benefits, they may already be enrolled in a program that offers discounts on their bills. If you're getting other government benefits like Medicaid, you can also apply for the discount. Could you explain that? Who's automatically in and who might be able to apply for discounts on their utilities, but based on benefits that they're receiving?

Samantha Maldonado: Yes, sure. Like you said, if you're on food stamps, temporary assistance, social security benefits you might already be enrolled in a discount program. This is specifically through Con-Ed where they'll give you some of the money off of your bill, just a flat rate, each billing cycle.

If you aren't on any of those things, but you might be on Medicaid then you can apply. At that point, you have to just contact your utility provider and ask about it. Those same public benefits can also get you eligible for the home or the heating energy assistance program that's run through the state.

Brian Lehrer: Just reading from your article, listeners take notes, you can also apply for the state-run home energy assistance program or HEAP, which can provide up to $751 this year toward heating assistance for those who receive food stamps, temporary assistance, or social security. Through the utility assistance program, people who are elderly, blind, disabled, mentally impaired, or in other qualifying situations may be eligible for cash grants.

Samantha's article cites, organizations like the Center For Urban Community Services and the Public Utility Law Project that can help you navigate the processes and find out what you might be eligible for as can the city's department of social services, if you're in the five boroughs. We're going to wrap it up with those tips right now, but just, as a little bit of reassurance to some people, I saw your article also said that Con-Ed at least, I don't know if PSENJ and some of the other utilities in the area also, but they won't cut you off during the winter?

Samantha Maldonado: Yes. My reporting shows that there's been a handshake agreement between the utilities and the state. Especially just because it's cold outside and they need to be providing heat. They won't shut off until mid-April or this spring. As I said earlier, people will get notified, they'll get a 35-day notice, and usually, that comes in two parts 20 days past an overdue bill, and then 15 days before the company plans to shut you off. In my reporting, the companies really emphasized just to get in touch and figure out how to get on a payment plan or other forms of assistance that way there are no shutoffs.

Brian Lehrer: Samantha Maldonado from the non-profit news organization, The City, her article "Hit by Soaring Con-Ed Bills? Here's What You Can Do About It". Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

Samantha Maldonado: Thank you. Take care.

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