Help available for high energy costs this winter

With weather forecasters predicting a severely cold winter, paying for energy costs can be a major burden for homeowners.
Assemblymember William Scarborough, concerned about the economic burden of a cold winter, invited representatives from Heartshare National Grid and from The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to be the guest speakers at his 29th A.D. Task Force Meeting.
HEAP is a federally funded program that helps low-income homeowners and renters pay bills for heating fuel, equipment and repairs. The program is administered locally by the Department of Social Services and provides grants ranging from $40 to $540 a year to eligible households to pay their energy heating costs.
Eligibility is determined based on income below the current NYS income guidelines. The maximum gross weekly income for a household size of one is $453, for three it’s $732.00 per week, and for a household size of five it’s $1010.76 per week. You may request an application by calling 800-692-0557.
Joe Guarinello, VP of the Energy Program at Heartshare, said the EmPower NY program was for both homeowners and renters.
The refrigerator and the hot water heater take 60 percent of your energy bill. If you are income eligible, with the same Income Guidelines as HEAP, they will provide a free home energy audit. A specialist will walk through your home and see how you are using energy in your home. They will test your refrigerator and replace it if it is 10 years old or older. An older refrigerator often uses more than three times the energy of an energy efficient new model. Any equipment that is old or not working properly, they will replace, including your stove and all the incandescent lights in your home or apartment.
You can test your own refrigerator by putting a dollar bill into the door opening. If you can pull that dollar bill out, your refrigerator is not energy efficient.
If you heat with oil, you may be eligible if you meet the income guidelines for free oil. Heartshare also administers the Neighborhood Heating Fund (funded by National Grid) which provides $200 grants towards you gas bill.
Beginning in February, they will also provide $200 grants towards your electricity through the Energy Share Program funded by Con Edison. For middle income homeowners who don’t qualify for HEAP, there is a federally funded energy assistance program which just received $5.1 billion, allocated from the $700 billion federal bail out package.
New York State will be receiving $500 million more for its energy assistance program. For more information, call Heartshare Energy Program representatives Christine at 718-422-4310 or Charlie at 718-422-4207.
Scarborough has a limited quantity of EmPower NY folders which include application forms. Call his District Office at 718-723-5412 for availability.
The 29th AD Task Force Meetings are held the last Saturday of every month (except for December, July and August) at the Robert Ross Johnson Family Life Center, 172-17 Linden Boulevard in St. Albans from 10 a.m. to noon. They are ppen to the public.