As Utility Shutoff Freeze Nears End, New Yorkers in Debt Fear Shutoffs

Jonathan Bix, the executive director of For the Many, a grassroots group based in the Hudson Valley that supports expanding public renewables, said narrow, means-tested benefits won’t solve the arrears crisis. “There’s some parallels between the eviction situation and the utility situation in that the moratoriums have been good, but we haven’t seen the kind of full debt forgiveness we need to make up the huge gap in people being able to afford their utilities and rents during the pandemic,” he said.

“It’s just delaying when people will be evicted or have their power shut off.”