National Grid customers in New York can get monthly discounts, hardship grants, and shutoff protections
National Grid delivers electricity and natural gas across upstate New York, and natural gas to homes in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Long Island, and the Rockaways. A past-due balance with the company does not have one fix. It has several, and most people only know about one or two of them.
This page covers the full set of options that may help pay a bill or reduce energy usage: the Energy Affordability Program discount that lowers the bill every month, a newer discount for households that earn too much for the traditional one, the HeartShare hardship grants that pay toward a past-due balance, payment agreements, the shutoff protections New York law requires, and free help cutting the bill itself.
The monthly discount many customers never claim
The Energy Affordability Program, called EAP, puts a credit on your National Grid bill every month. If a HEAP heating grant is applied to your National Grid account, enrollment happens automatically. If your HEAP grant went to a different fuel supplier, such as an oil dealer, the state's data match with National Grid can still enroll you. Households that did not get HEAP can enroll themselves by sending proof that they receive a qualifying government benefit, such as SNAP, SSI, or Medicaid.
The credit continues as long as a HEAP grant is applied to the account each year, which is one more reason to reapply for HEAP every season. Questions go to National Grid's Energy Affordability team at 1-718-403-2216 or [email protected]. Some enrolled electric customers also receive an extra solar-funded credit on top of the EAP discount, added automatically.
A discount for households above the HEAP income line
New York has the Enhanced Energy Affordability Program for working households that miss the traditional cutoff. If your income is below the state's median, or below the area median in the downstate region, you can apply for a monthly bill discount even though you never qualified for HEAP or EAP.
Enrollment runs through National Grid or the statewide site at https://nyeeap.com/program. If you were ever told you make slightly too much for help, this program was built for you, and it is worth checking before assuming the answer is still no. Details on both discounts are also published by the New York Department of Public Service at https://dps.ny.gov/energy-affordability-program.
Hardship grants pay toward the balance when HEAP is used up
National Grid funds a set of charitable grants administered by HeartShare Human Services of New York, and each one serves a different situation.
- The Neighborhood Heating Fund helps customers in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island who meet HEAP income guidelines, have used up all HEAP assistance, and hold a disconnect notice; it serves people in one- or two-family homes or apartments where the tenant pays for heat.
- The Care & Share Energy Fund is the upstate counterpart, and it also serves households that heat with delivered fuel and are down to a few days' supply.
- The Hope & Warmth Energy Fund covers households whose income sits above the HEAP guidelines but who still cannot manage a heating bill.
Each fund pays one grant per household per heating season, opens in the middle of winter, and closes when the money is gone, so apply the week it opens rather than the month after. HeartShare also runs a National Grid-funded food voucher program for customers with a senior, a person with a disability, or a child in the home. Applications for all of these go through HeartShare at https://www.heartshare.org/, and National Grid customer service or a Consumer Advocate can point you to the current intake.
A payment agreement spreads the balance out
New York law requires National Grid to negotiate a deferred payment agreement based on what you can actually afford, and for households in financial hardship the down payment can be small or waived. You can set up more time to pay through your online account or by calling. The worst move with a termination notice is doing nothing; the company can hold collection activity while an agreement or an assistance application is being worked out, but only if it knows about your situation.
State law protects certain households from losing service
Under New York's Home Energy Fair Practices Act, extra protections apply before any residential shutoff, and stronger ones apply to households where everyone is 62 or older, 18 or younger, or blind or disabled, where someone has a serious medical condition certified by a doctor, and during the cold months of the year. If anyone in your home relies on life-sustaining equipment that runs on electricity, register that with National Grid so the account is flagged. The company's Third Party Notification service sends a copy of any late notice to a person you pick, which protects people who miss mail or are away when a notice arrives.
Ask for a Consumer Advocate
National Grid staffs Consumer Advocates whose job is walking struggling customers through every option: the discounts above, HEAP referrals, payment agreements, and the HeartShare grants. You can request one through the company's website or by phone. If a regular billing call is going nowhere, this is the escalation that may change the conversation.
The Budget Plan smooths the bill but does not pay it
The Budget Plan divides your expected yearly cost into even monthly payments so winter gas bills stop arriving as spikes. Know what you are signing up for: you pay the same total over the year, and if your usage runs higher than projected, the plan amount adjusts. It works best for a tight but steady budget, not as a cure for a balance that is already past due.
Free help using less energy
National Grid runs energy savings programs for income-eligible customers, with free or heavily discounted improvements that make the bill smaller permanently. These pair well with the state's free weatherization work, which is explained with the HEAP details on our New York HEAP and weatherization page, along with other New York utility assistance programs.
The scam to watch: a robocall offering a discount
An ongoing wave of fraud aimed at National Grid customers includes robocalls promising a large percentage off future bills; the "enrollment" is a trick to collect your account number and payment details. Here is the test that beats nearly every impostor, whatever the story: a real National Grid representative already knows your account number, so ask the caller to read you the last five digits of it. A scammer cannot, and will usually hang up or push harder.
Never give an account, Social Security, or card number to someone who called you, and remember National Grid never demands payment by gift card, prepaid card, cryptocurrency, or payment apps. Legitimate texts from the company come from its published short codes, not ordinary phone numbers. If you were targeted, report it to National Grid, local police, and the state Attorney General.
Community discussion
If you want to read about other National Grid customers’ experiences in accessing help, or struggling to pay a bill, visit the moderated forum thread about National Grid programs. We also have other topics in our forum about utility assistance programs - whether those directly offered by National Grid or options from charities or the government.
Where to start
Call the customer service number printed on your bill, because National Grid uses different contact numbers for its upstate, metro New York, and Long Island regions. There is also the website at https://www.nationalgridus.com/NY-Home/Bill-Help/Help-Making-Payments. Ask three questions in one call: whether you are enrolled in EAP, what payment agreement fits your budget, and which HeartShare fund is currently open for your area.
This page is about National Grid's New York assistance options, not legal or financial advice. Program rules, funding, and openings shift from season to season, so confirm the current terms with National Grid or the administering organization.
Related Content From Needhelppayingbills.com
|
Need help navigating programs?