Mike Knerr was excited to move into his Washington Heights apartment in September 2023, but coming off a hot summer, he faced a looming problem: his building didn’t have central air conditioning, and he didn’t have an AC unit — or the money to buy one.
Knerr, who is HIV-positive, was out of work as his health took a nosedive.
But the 42-year-old receives benefits through the city’s HIV/AIDS Services Administration, which is how he found out he might be eligible to receive a free air conditioner from the federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program, or HEAP, which helps New Yorkers pay their heating bills in the winter and provides air conditioning units in the summer.
Knerr applied last April and became one of the more than 10,000 households in New York City authorized to receive the cooling benefit.
With his AC unit installed before summer, he felt relief.
“It would have taken all my expenses for the entire month to try to buy even a small air conditioner that wouldn’t have been able to cool the apartment very well,” said Knerr.
“The medications and things cause me to sweat a lot so it’s helpful for me to stay healthy.”
Applications for this season’s HEAP cooling assistance opened Tuesday.
But the future of the program is uncertain: the Trump administration in early April fired all the federal staff that ran the program as part of wider layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
And states are millions of dollars short in promised federal funding, having still not received about 10% of the $4.1 billion Congress approved.
That means New York has yet to receive about $36 million of its expected $360.2 million for HEAP, which helps over 1.5 million households across the state each year.
With the heat of summer approaching and utility bills mounting, consumer advocates and government officials are sounding the alarm.
“This is a devastating decision that puts millions of households across the country at risk,” said Laurie Wheelock, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project.
“Any disruption in the administration of HEAP could have serious consequences for the million-plus eligible New Yorkers already struggling to keep up with rising utility bills.”
About one-quarter of low-income households in New York City spend more than 20% of their income on energy bills, a 2024 report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy found.
On top of that, more than half a million Con Ed and National Grid customers downstate are at least 60 days behind on their energy bills, owing over $1 billion.
“We are counting on our federal elected officials to ensure this successful program continues to be funded and that New Yorkers are able to access the help they need,” a spokesperson for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which administers the program in New York, said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson previously said the agency “will continue to comply” with federal law and will be “better positioned to execute on Congress’s statutory intent” because of the “reorganization.”
Cool Deal
The less money HEAP has, the sooner it will close off applications — shutting out eligible families from receiving help they need.
Last summer, New York’s HEAP funds for cooling assistance ran out in July.
Without the federal funding — or short of an emergency infusion of funds from the state — the program could close even sooner this year and help much fewer families.
In January, when winter HEAP closed to applications, Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated $35 million to reopen the program, which previously cut off applications in March.
Emma Wallner, a spokesperson for Hochul, declined to comment on whether the governor might once again support HEAP with more state funds, but in a statement blamed Republicans for cuts to the social safety net.
“The Governor will continue fighting for state tax cuts, credits, and rebates that put money back in the pockets of New Yorkers, but ultimately there’s only one feasible solution: New York’s GOP members of Congress need to stand up, fight back, and reverse these cuts,” Wallner said.
In the meantime, the state is accepting applications to get a window air conditioning unit worth up to $800.
Access to cooling, particularly through HEAP, has been a way to mitigate heat’s danger, said Annie Carforo, climate justice campaigns manager at the West Harlem-based nonprofit WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
“This lifeline is critical,” she said.
“We need to make sure that everybody’s equipped with the equipment in their homes that’s going to keep them safe.”
Exposure to extreme heat is a top threat to the lives of New Yorkers.
The city sees an average of 580 heat-related deaths each year.
Heat can worsen underlying health conditions, like cardiovascular disease.
And while ensuring access to in-home cooling is essential, the program could go further, according to advocates like Carforo and city health department officials.
That’s because HEAP’s cooling benefit does not cover the cost of utility bills — and the expense can prevent people from using ACs.
“We want to see the program expanded to include utility costs,” said Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Assistant Commissioner Carolyn Olson at a City Council hearing last week.
“You can have that air conditioner, but if you can’t turn it on, it’s not helping you.”
She cited a health department report showing that among the New Yorkers who died from heat stress in their homes, 90% either lacked AC or the AC they had wasn’t working or in use.
Olson acknowledged the “federal changes” and emphasized the need to advocate for more HEAP funding in general.
In testimony to Congress last week, National Energy Assistance Directors Association Executive Director Mark Wolfe asked lawmakers to fund HEAP at at least the same levels in the upcoming fiscal year, describing the $4.1 billion figure as “the minimum amount” HEAP needs to “provide basic support for the families it serves.”
New York State approved over $278.6 million of HEAP benefits to residents, including $50 million worth to those in the five boroughs, as of the end of January, according to OTDA data.
Wolfe on Tuesday sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services urging the feds to release the HEAP funding in limbo to states and to rehire its staff by May 1.
image source from：https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/04/15/heap-energy-assistance-applications-trump-cuts/
