A Comparison of Utility Debt Management in Orange and Rockland and Central Hudson

Ryann Busillo | 1/27/2025

Introduction

Following up on my latest blog, Arrears and DPAs—where I examined troubling correlations in Central Hudson’s monthly collection reports, in addition to years of missing satisfied DPA data—this post turns to another utility company. My aim here was to determine whether the trends I observed at Central Hudson were unique or more typical among investor-owned utilities (IOUs), to assess Orange and Rockland’s satisfied DPA reporting, and to evaluate the effectiveness of DPAs in reducing utility debt. To refresh, DPA stands for Deferred Payment Agreement, and arrears refer to the amount of debt customers owe to their utility company. 

Connor, my co-author, and I chose Orange and Rockland because it shares key similarities with Central Hudson. Both serve between 200,000 and 290,000 residential accounts (attained from collection reports), with seemingly comparable customer compositions. That said, we do not have detailed demographic or socioeconomic data, such as whether households are experiencing greater financial stress or more variable incomes, so we can only assume the two are broadly comparable. In contrast, a utility like Con Edison—whose customer base is concentrated in New York City—might show very different patterns due to a long list of variables.

Review of Central Hudson Findings

In my last blog, I found that the relationships between debt, payment plans, and shutoffs are strongly correlated. More specifically, when I compared the number of households enrolled in a DPA to total arrears, average arrears, and terminations, the results underscored patterns in the data that require further explanation. Moreover, these strong correlation values indicate that DPAs are not functioning as a mechanism to alleviate debt. This is problematic because DPAs are intended to help customers pay down their utility debt, but we know this is not happening on a systemic level in Central Hudson, as arrears continue to grow. While the relationships between payment agreements, arrears, and terminations warrant concern, the last relationship I examined—Terminations for non-payment vs. reconnections via DPA—demonstrates a case where the system is functioning as it should. It shows that, while DPA’s don’t provide debt relief, they do allow customers to avoid shut offs.

Analysis of Orange and Rockland

I then applied the same analysis to Orange and Rockland to see if Central Hudson’s trends were present in Orange and Rockland’s collection data. What I found was the opposite: the relationships between debt, DPAs, and terminations are weakly correlated, meaning there is little to no relationship between the categories I measured. This stands in contrast to my findings for Central Hudson, where the R² value represents a strong correlation (see Table 1 for a comparison of the two datasets). 

A Note on Central Hudson’s Shut off Practices: Central Hudson’s collections team is small, so staff focus on terminating accounts with the oldest or largest debt; if another field action account happens to be along the same route, it might get shut off, too.

Interpreting Correlations

If Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs) were effectively helping households reduce their debt, we would expect to see a negative relationship between DPA enrollment and arrears. This means that as DPA enrollment increases, arrears would decrease in tandem. We would expect to see this pattern because DPAs are meant to help pay down arrears, yet this expected relationship does not appear in either Central Hudson’s or Orange and Rockland’s case. 


Instead, Central Hudson’s data displays strong positive correlations across the categories we examined. It is important to emphasize that these correlations do not mean causation. For example, when interpreting these correlations, a strong positive R² does not mean one variable is causing the other to increase: increased DPAs are not causing arrears to rise and vice versa. Rather, as more households enter DPAs, arrears also grow. In the context of Central Hudson, this suggests DPAs are not functioning as a mechanism to reduce debt. By contrast, Orange and Rockland’s data does not show a strong relationship in either direction, which indicates that arrears and DPA enrollment are not tightly linked.

Key Differences Between Utilities

This is crucial to highlight because it reveals a key difference in the way collections in Central Hudson and Orange and Rockland are functioning, at least from a data standpoint. For Orange and Rockland, while we do not see strong negative correlations that would indicate debt reduction, their arrears remain relatively steady over time (see Figure 1). This suggests that while DPAs are not driving down debt, they are at least not coinciding with a steady upward climb in arrears.

Central Hudson, on the other hand, paints a different picture. The strong positive correlations in its data highlight how debt continues to rise despite more customers participating in DPAs. Again, this does not mean DPAs are responsible for the increase. Instead, it points to other, unexplained dynamics that are preventing DPAs from having their intended effect. This pattern is unusual compared to what we see at Orange and Rockland, and it raises important questions about Central Hudson’s operations.

In short, DPAs appear to fulfill their role in helping households restore service after disconnection, but they are not proving to be an effective tool for addressing the underlying challenge of household energy debt. The stability seen in Orange and Rockland’s data—though not ideal—shows that debt can be held steady, but Central Hudson’s numbers suggest deeper problems that merit further investigation.

Figure 1. This graph presents average household arrears for Central Hudson and Orange and Rockland from June 2023 to June 2025. Central Hudson’s average arrears are not only higher than Orange and Rockland’s, but they also show a clear upward trajectory over the two years. In contrast, Orange and Rockland’s arrears remain relatively stable, indicating that while debt persists, it does not steadily climb as it does in Central Hudson’s case.

Furthermore, when I looked at active DPAs at the start of each month, I was surprised to find that Orange and Rockland had consistently higher percentages of accounts enrolled in DPAs in comparison to Central Hudson. I hadn’t expected this pattern, as I assume the utility with higher arrears would have more accounts enrolled in their DPA program. Still, this highlights how differently the two datasets behave: Central Hudson shows higher arrears, lower DPA enrollment, and a strong positive correlation between the two, while Orange and Rockland display steadier arrears, higher DPA enrollment, and a weak correlation between the two. 

Figure 2. This graph displays the percentage of customers in arrears with active DPAs from June 2023 to June 2025. Orange and Rockland (blue) had consistently higher DPA enrollment in comparison to Central Hudson. 

Unexplained Factors at Play

Simply put, something is amplifying the link between Central Hudson’s arrears and DPA enrollment that cannot be explained by program design alone. A likely contributor is the utility’s troubled billing system rollout, which left many customers in arrears while driving up DPA participation at the same time. Yet this explanation cannot be applied to Orange and Rockland, which maintained steadier arrears and higher DPA participation. This contrast suggests that issues unique to Central Hudson may be shaping its outcomes. 

Differences in customer populations may also play a role. As mentioned above, Central Hudson’s service area could include households facing greater financial stress or more variable incomes, making them more prone to arrears regardless of available payment plans. Still, without greater transparency into the utility’s internal practices and customer data, it is impossible to identify causes with confidence. What is clear, however, is that Central Hudson’s patterns diverge not only from expectations but also from what we observe at Orange and Rockland. This raises urgent questions: why are arrears climbing despite rising DPA enrollment, and to what extent are operational missteps, demographic pressures, or both driving the gap?

Orange and Rockland Satisfied DPAs

While Central Hudson’s collections data does not report on satisfied DPAs, Orange and Rockland’s does regularly report those numbers. This allows us to assess the impact of satisfied DPAs within Orange and Rockland and draw a broader conclusion: satisfied DPAs, in general, do not appear to significantly reduce household debt. Although this is not the outcome we hoped for, it underscores the need for deeper interventions—such as debt forgiveness and a system-wide revamp—to meaningfully support energy-insecure populations. If DPAs are a utility’s main response to debt, then DPA’s need to effectively address that debt. 

To evaluate the effects of satisfied DPAs, I examined two metrics: Average Household Debt and Monthly Changes in Average Arrears. In both cases, the correlations were extremely weak, indicating that completing a DPA does not substantially change debt levels. While satisfying a DPA is a positive outcome for the individual customer who achieves it, the majority of customers do not reach that point, and for the system as a whole, DPAs have a limited impact on reducing arrears.

To highlight this further, when we examine DPA outcomes, the majority of plans default, and more are reinstated than satisfied (see Figure 5).

Figure 3. This graph shows the relationship between satisfied DPAs and monthly changes in average arrears, with an R² value of 0.055. This means there’s almost no connection between the number of completed DPAs and a reduction in arrears. Ideally, we would hope to see arrears go down as more DPAs are satisfied, but the weak correlation shows that completing DPAs doesn’t have much impact on overall debt.

Figure 4. This graph shows the relationship between satisfied DPAs and average household debt, with an R² value of 0.002. The extremely weak correlation suggests that completing a DPA has a minimal effect on reducing overall household debt. If DPAs were effective, we would expect debt to decrease as more plans are satisfied; however, as shown in Figure 3, the data indicate that satisfied DPAs do not significantly reduce average household debt across customers.

Figure 5. This graph shows the outcomes of DPAs, highlighting that most plans end in default, and more DPAs are reinstated than fully satisfied. This illustrates why DPAs have a limited impact on overall arrears reduction. They don’t lead to debt relief.

Closing Thoughts

This comparison with Orange and Rockland makes one thing clear: Central Hudson’s troubling patterns are not inevitable or universal among utilities. While DPAs can help households restore service after disconnection, they do little to reduce arrears or lower household debt. Orange and Rockland’s data reinforces this point—their satisfied DPAs show almost no relationship to declining debt, while also demonstrating that arrears can be held relatively steady even without significant debt reduction.

Central Hudson, by contrast, shows a far more troubling trajectory. Arrears continue to climb even as more customers enroll in DPAs—a pattern that cannot be fully explained with the data currently available. While operational issues, such as the problematic billing system rollout, may play a role, gaps in satisfied DPA reporting do not drive this trend but instead make it difficult to fully understand and analyze. What the data does make clear is that the connection between arrears and DPA enrollment at Central Hudson is unusually strong compared to Orange and Rockland, pointing to underlying dynamics that warrant closer examination.

Nonetheless, in both cases, this analysis articulates the limits of DPAs as a tool for addressing energy debt. DPAs may serve an important role in helping households reconnect after termination, but they are not designed to resolve chronic utility debt. To truly support energy-insecure households, utilities and regulators will need to look beyond DPAs toward deeper interventions—such as debt forgiveness, billing reform, and targeted support for vulnerable populations. Until such measures are pursued, burdensome arrears will persist, and utilities like Central Hudson will remain case studies in the consequences of inaction and opacity.

If you need help navigating a Final Termination Notice or understanding your DPA, don’t hesitate to reach out. And if you’re looking for additional support to manage your energy bills, MHET has programs and resources that can help. We’d love to connect and help you find the options that work best for you. For researchers or anyone interested in exploring these trends further, we welcome conversations and collaboration.

Deferred Payment Agreements: A Broken Promise to Customers

Ryann Busillo | 1/27/2025

Introduction

In my last blog post, Terminations and Their Outcomes, we focused on the issuance of Final Termination Notices (FTNs), the portion of those FTNs that become eligible for shut-off, and the percentage of those accounts that experience shut-offs. We also explored pathways to reconnection, including the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), the Department of Social Services, and Central Hudson’s primary method: Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs). 

However, while DPAs appear effective at preventing shutoffs and restoring service, there is no available data on how often customers are actually able to satisfy the terms of their DPAs. In fact, Central Hudson’s monthly collections reports list “n/a” for every month between January 2020 and June 2025. The Energy Assistance Program (EAP) collections reports – which cover households enrolled in the utility’s low-income savings program – are slightly more informative. They report the number of satisfied DPAs quarterly from January 2020 until September 2022 and then report zero every month from October 2022 through May 2025. Meaning no one in the Energy Assistance Program successfully paid off their debt through DPA’s over that time period. In comparison to the other investor-owned utilities that submit collection reports to the Department of Public Service (PCS), like National Grid, Con Edison, and Orange and Rockland, this is out of the norm. 

The purpose of a Deferred Payment Agreement, as outlined by Central Hudson, is to “help customers catch up on past-due account balance,” which suggests that at some point, customers will be caught up on, or make progress on repaying, their utility debt. This is not the story Central Hudson’s numbers tell. If DPAs, while not a debt forgiveness plan, were accomplishing their goal, we would expect to see some regularity in DPA satisfaction and a corresponding decline in overall arrears. The fact that both the regular collection reports and the EAP collection reports indicate “n/a” or “0” every month since October 2022 – while arrears, and the number of households in arrears, continue to rise – is alarming.

What the Numbers Tell Us About DPAs

To better understand the role of DPAs in Central Hudson’s collections process, I graphed DPA data against other collection categories. The results were striking:

*An R² value shows how well a line or model fits the data. Broadly, R² measures how strongly related two categories are. Specifically, it tells us what percentage of the variation in the outcome is explained by the model. Values above 0.7 are generally considered strong, with values closer to 1 indicating extremely strong variable correlation.*

  • DPA enrollment vs. total arrears: R² = 0.799

Figure 1. DPA Participation vs. Total Arrears Owed

Figure 2. DPA Participation vs. Total Arrears Owed (Jan 2020 – April 2025)

Figures 1 & 2 Discussion:

Figure 1 shows the percent of residents on deferred payment agreements (DPAs) plotted against total arrears, with an R² value of 0.799. Figure 2 presents the same data over time, with DPAs in blue and total arrears in red, visually highlighting the similarities in their trajectories. If DPAs were effectively reducing arrears, we would expect higher DPA enrollment to correspond with lower total arrears. Instead, these figures show that as more customers enter DPAs, total arrears continue to rise, indicating that DPAs are not effectively lowering household debt at the system level.

  • DPA enrollment vs. average household debt: R² = 0.778

Figure 3. DPA Participation Vs. Average Household Debt

Figure 4. DPA Participation and Average Household Debt (Jan 2020 – April 2025)

Figures 3 & 4 Discussion:

Figure 3 shows the percent of residents on deferred payment agreements (DPAs) plotted against average household arrears, with an R² value of 0.778. Figure 4 presents the same data over time, with DPAs in blue and average household arrears in red, highlighting the similarities in their trajectories. If DPAs were effectively reducing household debt, we would expect higher DPA enrollment to correspond with lower average arrears. Instead, these figures show that even as more households enter DPAs, average household arrears remain largely unchanged, indicating that DPAs have limited impact on debt reduction at the system level.

  • DPA enrollment vs. monthly termination (post-moratorium): R² = 0.758

 

Figure 5. DPA Participation vs. Monthly Terminations (May 2024 – April 2025)

Figure 6. DPA Participation and Terminations (May 2024 – April 2025)

Figures 5 & 6 Discussion:

Figure 5 shows the percent of residents in deferred payment agreements (DPAs) plotted against terminations, with an R² value of 0.758. Figure 6 presents the same data over time, from May 2024 to April 2025, highlighting post-moratorium effects. Ideally, we would expect to see fewer terminations as more households enter DPAs, since the program is designed to help customers stay current on their bills. While DPAs still allow individual households to avoid immediate shutoff, the strong positive correlation indicates that, overall, terminations continue to rise even as DPA enrollment increases. This points to broader operational or systemic challenges affecting arrears and disconnections at the utility level.

  • Terminations for non-payment vs. reconnections via DPA: R² = 0.967

Figure 7. Terminations For Non-Payment vs. Reconnections Due to DPA

Figure 8. Terminations and Reconnections Due to DPA (Jan 2020 – June 2025)

Figures 7 & 8 Discussion:

Figure 7 shows terminations and reconnections due to deferred payment agreements (DPAs), with an R² value of 0.967. This strong positive correlation is expected and reflects the core purpose of DPAs: allowing households who experience disconnection to regain service. Figure 8 presents the same data over time, with terminations in dark blue and reconnections in green, visually highlighting how closely these two categories move together. Unlike the concerning trends seen in overall arrears or DPA enrollment, these figures demonstrate that DPAs are functioning effectively for service restoration at the individual household level.

These strong positive correlations suggest that Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs) do not prevent the rise of household arrears. Instead, as more customers fall behind on their bills and face service termination, DPA enrollment rises in tandem, revealing a troubling mismatch between the program’s stated intent and its actual outcomes. 

In my earlier blog post, Terminations and Outcomes, I concluded that DPAs (in the case of Central Hudson) have become the only consistent path to avoid disconnection and restore service. This new analysis adds a more troubling dimension: if the most reliable tool for reconnection is also ineffective at reducing debt, then we are relying on a mechanism that perpetuates, rather than resolves, financial distress. In other words, DPAs may help households temporarily avoid the consequences of arrears, but they do little to address the underlying cause… chronic unaffordability. This contradiction calls into question the long-term efficacy of DPAs and demands a deeper examination of their role. Even if some DPAs are being satisfied (and Central Hudson simply isn’t reporting it), if overall arrears continue to rise, what purpose are these agreements truly serving?

Why DPAs Might be Failing:

1. The terms of DPAs are unmanageable:

Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs) are only available to customers who are already in arrears. If you’re eligible for a DPA, it’s because you owe Central Hudson money and the agreement is the utility’s main tool to prevent shutoff and restore service. For more on how down payments and monthly terms are typically negotiated, check out this blog.

If a customer already can’t afford their monthly bill, how are they supposed to pay their monthly bill plus an added installment toward their past-due balance? For many households, this added burden is simply unsustainable.

When we look at the data, it confirms what many already know intuitively: the more people who enter DPAs, the more people default. But there’s a key nuance. An increase in DPA’s only accounts for 30% of the rise in defaults. In other words, while default rates do climb as enrollment increases, there are other significant factors at play, including: the cost of energy service, income, the size of arrears, and the lack of meaningful debt relief options. Increased DPA enrollment alone is not causing accounts to default; accounts are defaulting because the system is not structured to assist, it is structured to extract, irrespective of human well-being.

Figure 9. Customers in arrears with deferred payment agreements compared to deferred payment agreements defaulted, with an R² value of 0.304.

2. The structure of DPAs reinforces chronic debt

Rather than helping customers meaningfully reduce what they owe, DPAs often just stretch debt over time without offering real relief or forgiveness. Many customers fall into a cycle where they default on one plan and then enter another, essentially restarting the payment clock without ever catching up. Notably, Central Hudson has not reported a single reinstated DPA since before the rollout of its new billing system in September 2021. These “rolling DPAs”—whether a new DPA altogether or a reinstated one that wasn’t reported—don’t resolve debt. At least, there isn’t evidence that they do. They seem to postpone the consequences of mounting utility debt, allowing customers to stay connected while their overall balance grows, which is why we see arrears continuing to grow despite these payment plans. 

Due to the limited information available, we are unable to follow specific accounts to verify if this is what is actually happening; all we know is the number of DPAs and defaults, making it difficult to interpret that data as a cohesive story.

Additionally, as a for-profit company, Central Hudson’s primary obligation is to generate returns for its shareholders, which can influence how it approaches payment plans. From this perspective, even a partially paid DPA still contributes to the company’s bottom line. As concluded in Terminations and Their Outcomes, the main and most effective way to avoid a shut-off or get reconnected is by entering a DPA. When we connect this finding to Central Hudson’s bottom line—generate profit for shareholders— it becomes clear that DPAs ultimately serve the company’s interests more than customers’.

3. Energy is too expensive

Energy is becoming increasingly unaffordable. As of July 2025, the Consumer Price Index shows electricity costs up 5.5% over the past year and natural gas prices up 13.8%—the two most common residential energy sources (Bureau of Labor Statistics). From May 2024 to May 2025, the average U.S. residential electricity price climbed 6.5%, from 16.41¢ to 17.47¢ per kilowatt-hour, with analysts warning that the rapid growth of data centers could push prices even higher (Axios). Between January 2021 and April 2024, electricity prices increased by 29.4%, underscoring that the burden on households is not just a short-term spike but part of a sustained upward trend (New York Post). The average household is now paying about $140 per month for electricity (ElectricityPlans). For many families, these bills are not just inconvenient—they threaten household stability and financial security. In the Hudson Valley, Central Hudson Gas & Electric residential customers saw a 3% increase on electric bills and a 5.2% increase on natural gas bills just this past September 1, 2025. Read more about these rate changes in this article.

A Note on Internal Tracking and Data Issues

For a moment, I want to consider this as a data issue, where Central Hudson simply has not maintained a method for tracking and reporting DPA completion. Under this assumption and given Central Hudson’s history, it is plausible the utility is still working through internal issues, and reporting on satisfied DPAs is not one of their priorities. However, there are two issues I take with this logic: One, if this data issue began as a consequence of the new billing system, then we would have DPA satisfaction numbers for January 2020 to August 2021. And, is tracking DPA satisfaction really that different from tracking DPAs made, reinstated, defaulted, and active? 

Additionally, there is something to be said about the role of the Department of Public Service (PSC). It is their responsibility to hold Central Hudson accountable for reporting these numbers, and after five years of no data in Central Hudson’s collections reports, I wonder if they know about this data issue – or if their focus just hasn’t reached it yet. As previously mentioned, other utilities monitored by the PSC do report satisfied DPA’s highlighting how this issue is unique to Central Hudson. 

In all fairness, I believe it is unlikely that none of Central Hudson’s DPAs are being satisfied, yet month after month, reporting “0” or “N/A” is a pattern that demands explanation.

Conclusion

While superficially, this is a data issue, at its core, it is a policy and equity issue. Without accurate reporting, it is difficult to assess whether DPAs are actually helping customers regain financial stability or simply delaying disconnections. Moreover, the whole point of having private utilities report monthly collections to the Department of Public Service (DPS) is to help regulators and advocates protect the public interest. Without this check, the system will inevitably fall out of balance, if it hasn’t already, when the ability to recommend or implement better solutions is hindered. We need Central Hudson to not just report on new enrollment, active, and defaulted DPAs, but to prioritize reporting on satisfied DPAs. Without this change, we are still left with the question: Are DPAs helping Central Hudson customers? And if so, to what extent?

Figure 11. Increasing percent of residents on deferred payment agreements, increasing average debt, and increasing terminations over time.

Our 2025 Impact Report is Live!

Big news: our 2025 Impact Report is live! Our report shares what we accomplished together this year. Rather than testing isolated solutions, we built and implemented an integrated system — combining outreach, home upgrades, accessible financing, and community ownership — and proved it works in practice. The report focuses on what made that possible and what it suggests for how energy and equity work are funded and structured in New York. 

This year, we:

– Made 64 homes safer and healthier through our HUG program
– Helped 300 families get 10–20% off their electric bills
– Launched a 2% interest loan program designed for people traditional systems exclude
– Unlocked $7.34 for every $1 we gave to homeowners

And these are just the highlights. Take a look at our report and see how our impact grows throughout the year on our Impact page!

We could not have done this if we didn’t think outside the box and redesign the system around real people and real homes. To celebrate and share how we got here, we are hosting a webinar to walk through what we built, what we learned, and how this model can scale.

If you want to hear the truth about what it takes to make real change on a local scale, we invite you to come and join our discussion. Save your seat here:

Register for our Webinar!

MHET’s John Garay on Rise Up Radio

John Garay, MHET’s Bilingual Community Coordinator, was interviewed on Radio Kingston by Yolanda Knox and Katrina Houser to talk about Mid-Hudson Energy Transition’s programs and how community members can get involved.

The conversation is a great window into what our work looks like on the ground: not just policies and programs, but real people, real needs, and real pathways to making homes healthier, more affordable, and more energy efficient.

John talks about how MHET works with community members across the region, especially those who are too often left out of clean energy and energy efficiency programs. The interview explores how our programs are designed to meet people where they are (linguistically, culturally, and practically) and how trust, relationships, and accessibility are just as important as the technical side of energy work.

As our Bilingual Community Coordinator, John focuses on outreach, communication, and direct support for underrepresented communities, helping make sure the energy transition isn’t something that happens to people, but something they can actively participate in and benefit from.

This Rise Up Radio interview is a warm, practical, and grounding conversation about what energy justice looks like when it’s rooted in real lives and real neighborhoods.

Give the interview a listen and let it be a reminder that the energy transition is, at its core, a community project.

Listen to the Episode Here!

Jasmine Graham on Climate with Kiana

Throwback Thursday! At the end of 2023, Executive Director, Jasmine Graham, was a guest on Climate with Kiana, a podcast that explores climate solutions through a framework of joy and justice.

Climate with Kiana is all about something we deeply believe at MHET: that the path to a sustainable future isn’t just technical or policy-driven, it’s human. The show uplifts conversations with climate, energy, and sustainability leaders who are working toward solutions that are not only effective, but equitable, community-rooted, and life-affirming. It’s a space for curiosity, reflection, and honest conversation about how we get to a more just and joyful world.

In this episode, Jasmine and host Kiana dig into some of the big questions that sit at the heart of our work: What does energy justice really mean? What does energy democracy look like in practice? And what does a just transition require from our policies, our institutions, and ourselves?

They talk about the historical role policy has played in shaping our energy systems and how those systems have too often produced unequal and unjust outcomes. Jasmine shares perspective on why equitable energy solutions aren’t a “nice to have,” but a necessity if we’re serious about addressing the climate crisis in a way that actually improves people’s lives.

The conversation also traces Jasmine’s own journey working in clean energy in New York State, and the experiences that shaped their understanding of what’s possible when communities are centered in the transition. Along the way, Jasmine reflects on what continues to bring them inspiration, hope, and joy in this work because even in the face of enormous challenges, there are real, living examples of change happening right now.

It’s a thoughtful, grounded, and deeply human conversation about how we move from extractive systems toward ones built on care, participation, and shared power— exactly the kind of future we’re working toward at MHET every day.

We’re grateful to Climate with Kiana for creating space for these conversations and for uplifting the stories of people working toward just, sustainable, and joyful climate solutions.

Give the episode a listen and let it remind you that a better energy system isn’t just possible. We’re already building it.

Listen to the Podcast Here!

The Opportunity for Thermal Energy Networks in a Just Transition

Connor Cantrell | 11/20/2025

Climate change is here, it’s accelerating, and our goal now must be to mitigate the harm it is causing and will cause. This is becoming more difficult because the federal government is actively working against a green transition, let alone an equitable one. Without federal resources and protections, the energy transition will be driven by private interests, not the public good. In this grim context, the focus of the just energy transition we need must be local and grounded in the communities suffering most from climate chaos and fossil fuel pollution.  

The most vulnerable households in our communities are facing the heaviest burdens. If the energy transition is unmanaged, those who have enough resources to own a home, to install solar and geothermal, to buy batteries, to weatherize, to electrify, will do so, and they will save money doing it. These homes will be less reliant on the grid, while households who can’t afford these upgrades are left footing the bill for the grid as it decays. It’s a perfect example of how having less money makes basic needs more expensive. 

So we need a managed transition that doesn’t leave anyone behind. First, because of the love for our neighbors in our hearts, and second, because only a holistic approach can deliver comprehensive success. Have we transitioned away from fossil fuels if more than half of the population is still dependent on them? Of course not. The end of fossil fuel dependence needs to be complete. 

Decarbonizing needs to happen at scale. This is not cheap. And since we’re in an environment where funding is uncertain, we need to develop our own reliable sources of funding. In the absence of institutional support, we have to create our own institutions. In the wealth building biz these are called anchor institutions. 

In New York State, we’re operating in an energy ecosystem controlled by private, for profit utilities that maintain state sponsored monopolies over the electric and fossil fuel infrastructure. There are policy initiatives to change this status quo, but we also need to institute material changes with an urgency commensurate with the toll of climate collapse.

The big investor-owned utilities won’t orchestrate a managed transition themselves. In fact, they are fighting it: the incentives for for-profit institutions are to keep costs down and revenue up, and prevent competition. They’re not constructed to manage a just transition and we can’t expect them to operate against their interests.

But we can use the early stages of TEN development in New York as an opening to create our own institutions.

Each of New York’s seven largest investor-owned utilities is constructing a pilot thermal energy network (TEN) in accordance with the Utility Thermal Energy Network and Jobs Act (UTENJA). But their construction, development, and mass application are expensive, and, as noted, inconsistent with the structured profit incentives enjoyed by the utilities. We have not seen any indication that they plan to rapidly expand the adoption of thermal energy networks. Most of the utilities have not been enthusiastic about building TENS, because they replace the lucrative gas infrastructure with these renewable, highly resilient systems. That will cut into their bottom line, benefitting the customers instead of the corporations.

Utility scale thermal energy networks present an opportunity to decarbonize at scale. The Building Decarbonization Coalition provides a good explanation of  thermal energy networks (TENs) here. Very simply, TENs move heat around through underground water-filled pipes to warm and cool buildings. They get their heat from the earth’s constant, moderate temperature and from buildings in the system, even from sewage plants. They take excess heat from homes in summer to cool them, store it underground, and deliver it in winter.

So here’s the proposal: We create thermal energy networks that are structured to achieve a just transition. For example, the West Union, Iowa thermal energy network is municipally owned. Meaning that if the system isn’t working, the public has an opportunity to apply political pressure to an incumbent or challenger for local office. We can also construct TENs as independent non-profits, which also avoid the for-profit incentives of investor owned utilities.   

Either way, we have a local energy system that has a guaranteed revenue stream from distributing affordable heating and cooling and that revenue can be used to expand the system over time. TENs are modular, and they become more efficient as they increase in size and as they diversify the kinds of buildings they serve. Residential, commercial, and industrial heating and cooling needs all feed into the ability to balance the system. 

So, in an environment with dwindling opportunities for resources, we can start small and grow. We can expand and reach more members of our community and achieve ever increasing economies of scale. And, since these systems are local, the buildings that pay into the TEN for their heating and cooling needs avoid exporting that money out of their community. 

When we pay a Central Hudson utility bill in Kingston, it goes to a Canadian holding company. But if we were paying a local TEN, that money would go to local jobs and the further expansion of equitable decarbonization. Keeping money local and growing wealth locally. 

The best time to start a thermal energy network was twenty years ago. The next best time is today.

Mid-Hudson Energy Transition launches first-of-its-kind, ultra-low-interest loan program for home energy upgrades in Kingston

We’re thrilled to announce that our Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) is officially live! After months of planning and preparation, HELP is now ready to provide income-eligible households in Kingston with affordable loans to make their homes more energy efficient, safe, and comfortable. HELP is made possible by a coalition of partners, including Ulster Savings Bank who provide loan administration and servicing and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), who has provided a $500,000 loan loss reserve.

Even more exciting, we’ve already given out our first loan! Our very first recipient shared:

“This program is exactly what working families in Kingston need. I’ve wanted to upgrade my insulation for years and HELP made it possible. The monthly payment was manageable for my budget and MHET helped me through every step—from applying for incentives to finding a contractor. With winter around the corner, I hope to see the benefits very quickly. “

– Ethel Knox

Kingston resident + first HELP loan recipient

This milestone proves what we’ve believed from the start: with the right support, families can make the upgrades they need to save energy, lower costs, and feel more secure in their homes.

What HELP Does
HELP was designed to bridge the gap for households who need energy upgrades but face financial barriers. Whether it’s a heat pump water heater, insulation, or an induction stove, HELP offers low-interest loans (2% APR*) that make these improvements possible.

How You Can Get Involved
You can start sharing HELP with your community today! Here’s how:

  • Refer people to HELP. If you know someone who could benefit, please send them this interest form.

  • Apply for a loan. If you’d like to make improvements in your own home, fill out this interest form to start your application.

This is just the beginning. We can’t wait to see more households access the energy savings and comfort they deserve through HELP!

Read the Full Media Advisory

*Disclaimer: Annual Percentage Rate (APR): APR is a measure of the cost of credit, expressed as a yearly rate. The 2% APR rate is available to all qualified applicants who meet our underwriting criteria, regardless of credit score. Exact APR may vary between 2.0-2.5% depending on loan term and amount. This advertisement is not a guarantee of credit approval.

How Are Clean and Renewable Energy Different?

Michelle Rochniak | 8/18/2025

 

When people talk about eco-friendly energy, they sometimes use “clean” and “renewable” interchangeably. But they don’t necessarily mean the same thing.

Clean energy is energy that doesn’t release greenhouse gases. It includes solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal energy. It also includes nuclear energy—which doesn’t emit greenhouse gases but does create radioactive waste. Nuclear also harms the land, and Indigenous peoples generally oppose nuclear for that reason. For more on this, see Joe Heath’s (General Counsel of the Onondaga Nation) article for the Sierra Club.

Renewable energy is energy that is easily replenished. It uses resources that are essentially infinite. This category includes all of the above except nuclear. So, generally speaking, all renewable energy is clean, but not all clean energy is renewable.

As we create an energy transition that’s better for us and our planet, it’s important for the energy we use to be both clean and renewable. 

Here at MHET, we’re excited for all kinds of clean, renewable energy. Our community solar program has slowly been growing over the last several months, and we’ve got our eyes on a couple of other clean energy projects. Eventually, we hope to bring agrivoltaics and thermal energy networks to the Hudson Valley.

Agrivoltaics combines farming and solar panels in one place. This allows farmers to maintain their farms and harvest clean, renewable energy at the same time. It also creates additional shade and can provide more space for pollinators.

Thermal energy networks, or TENs, use a network of pipes to distribute thermal energy for heating and cooling between buildings. The thermal energy comes from existing heat resources, like wastewater treatment plants, or from digging boreholes 500+ feet into the ground. Digging boreholes can be expensive upfront. But once the networks are in place, they’re clean, safe, and quiet. Most importantly, they can be more than 500% more efficient than current heating and cooling systems. This means they’ll allow us to use less energy and keep more resources within our community.

MHET has a lot of clean energy dreams. All of our work strives to allow the community to have energy democracy, or ownership over clean energy. It’ll take some time for it all to happen, but we’re confident that change can happen. Explore our website today to learn more and see how we can work together to help the Kingston community!

What You Need to Know About Weatherization

Michelle Rochniak | 8/7/2025

Did you know that insulating your home can help you save money on your energy bill?

It’s true — things like closing the gap between a door and the floor, wrapping pipes, and sealing windows can all keep outside air out. Keeping out heat in the summer and cold in the winter can lower your bill, which doesn’t have to be something you do on your own.

Programs like the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) have helped a lot of people save money through weatherization tactics like insulation, ductwork, and ventilation repairs. In fact, the average weatherized household saves $372 on their energy bill every year.

WAP is a fantastic option for those who need support insulating their home, but it isn’t perfect. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) shared recently that about one in five eligible households can’t get what they need from WAP. This is because WAP requires that homes get other critical pre-weatherization repairs first before using the program.

These pre-weatherization repairs aren’t small or cheap either. Leaky roofs are the main issue for a majority of homes that can’t currently use WAP. When problems like that cost $14,000 on average, making repairs to create a home that’s up to WAP’s standards can be a nearly impossible task.

The federal government created a pre-weatherization fund (PWF) in 2022 to solve this problem, but it only invested $15 million. And now, the “Big Ugly Bill” is deprioritizing programs like the WAP and PWFs. Energy costs will rise across the country by $33 billion annually by 2035. That means it will be even harder, especially for low-income households, to make critical (pre-)weatherization repairs to their homes.

When programs fail people or become nonexistent, the community has a responsibility to call and act for better.

We want to help fill in the gaps at MHET. Our community requires weather- and climate-resilient homes now. Our solutions aim to make it easier for community members across Kingston to make those homes a reality.

Our hyper-accessible Home Upgrade Grants (HUG) program and our Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) both assist people with making energy-efficient upgrades to their homes.

HUG provides free financial support to low-income households in Kingston. HELP gives ultra-low-interest loans (2% APR) to low- and moderate-income Kingston homes. We know these programs will help create healthier, safer homes for low-income and other historically marginalized communities.

National programs aren’t meeting our community’s needs, so we’re doing what we can on the local level to help our neighbors. If you are interested in taking some small steps to insulate your home on your own, we have free weatherization kits to help boost your home’s insulation. If you’re interested in getting one (or know someone who might want one), reach out to info@mid-hudson.energy or call (845) 383-1050.

Terminations and Their Outcomes

Ryann Busillo | 8/5/2025

In our previous blog, Connor summarized Final Termination Notices (FTNs) and Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs). Here, I’ll dive deeper into terminations and their outcomes, exploring questions like: how often do terminations occur, and what happens before—and after—a shutoff?

Why Energy Is Not Just another Subscription

Receiving a Final Termination Notice is flat-out undesirable. In today’s world, energy is a basic requirement for almost everything we do, whether we realize it or not. It’s easy to forget how deeply we rely on this service when all it takes to turn on the lights is a flick of the switch. But as easy as energy is to access, it is not ours. We, the people, do not own the power plants or the transmission lines that bring electricity to our homes and businesses. Like Netflix or Spotify, we pay a “subscription” fee to use it. But energy is unique: we depend on it, and we pay for it after we’ve used it, much like a line of credit.

While services like Netflix and Spotify might offer entertainment, they don’t provide the foundation for daily life or a dignified existence. Energy does. 

More Than an Inconvenience: A Day Without Power

Imagine waking up and walking to the bathroom. You reach for the light switch, but nothing happens. It’s frustrating, but the morning sunlight is enough to get by. You move through your routine and turn the shower knob to hot. It’s January in Kingston, and the cold air makes you crave warmth. You notice it was harder than usual to get out of bed. The water never heats up. The radiator is cold to the touch.

Earlier in the month, Central Hudson sent you a Final Termination Notice. But with gas, groceries, and rent already stretching your budget, you left the notice on the kitchen counter. This was your first time falling more than two months behind—winter energy bills tend to be higher due to heating, and you hadn’t anticipated the unexpected $75 increase, even while trying to limit your usage. Five days later, Central Hudson sent you a Deferred Payment Agreement. You read the terms: a 15% down payment and monthly installments at about half your usual bill. You think, I can’t afford this. I need to eat. I need gas to get to work. And keeping a roof over your head feels more urgent than the energy bill.

Your phone rings. It’s your boss. The battery is at 2%. You run to the car to charge it, skipping breakfast—your stove doesn’t work, and the fridge is no longer running. 

Stories like this aren’t hypothetical, they reflect the real, everyday trade-offs thousands of customers are forced to make. And the data backs it up.

May 2025: Breaking Down The Numbers

In May 2025, Central Hudson issued 14,510 Final Termination Notices. Of those, 6,800 reached “field action” status, meaning their meters were officially eligible for shutoff. In the end, 1,109 accounts were actually terminated—about 16% of those eligible for shutoff. As shown below, only 4.9% of accounts who received an FTN were shut off. 

A Note on Central Hudson’s Shut off Practices: Central Hudson’s collections team is small, so staff focus on terminating accounts with the oldest or largest debt; if another field action account happens to be along the same route, it might get shut off, too.

Understanding Your Options After an FTN

Let’s break down what’s happening. FTNs are only sent to customers who are 60 or more days behind on their energy bill. At that point, customers have two main options: enter a Deferred Payment Agreement or apply for public assistance—more on that later. A third, less realistic option is to pay the balance in full. But for customers already struggling to pay a single month’s bill, this isn’t feasible.

So, what happens to those 1,109 accounts that were actually terminated? As with the options following an FTN, customers can: enroll in a DPA, attempt to access public assistance, or pay the balance in full—again, an unlikely choice.

The Reconnection Reality: What the Data Tells Us

It’s important to note that this is a generalization—the data does not distinguish between accounts that were shut off and reconnected within the same month versus those disconnected earlier and reconnected later. Still, the takeaway is clear: Deferred Payment Agreements (DPAs) remain the primary pathway to avoid or recover from service termination.

According to Central Hudson’s report, in May 2025, 590 of the 1,109 accounts were reconnected, while 519 remained disconnected by month’s end. Of the 590 reconnected accounts, 578—about 52% of all shutoffs—were restored through DPAs. Only 12 customers, or 1.1%, were reconnected using grants from the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) or the Department of Social Services (DSS).

Put simply: Out of every 100 homes at risk of termination in May 2025, 84 avoided shutoff altogether. Of the 16 that lost service, 8 were reconnected through a Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA), one was restored through HEAP or DSS assistance, and 7 remained without service by the end of the month.

FTNs and Shutoffs: A Historical Look

The graph above shows the percentage of at-risk accounts that actually lost service each month from January 2020 through May 2025. In late 2020, fewer than 2.3% of eligible customers were disconnected (compared to 16% in May 2025). Then, in April 2020, New York State imposed a pandemic-related moratorium on shutoffs that lasted through December 2021. Central Hudson’s botched rollout of a new billing system in September 2021 (see: How the Number of Households in Debt to Central Hudson Skyrocketed) led regulators to pause shutoffs until April 2024. FTNs resumed in December 2023—not to immediately shut off customers, but to reopen access to financial assistance. As counterintuitive as it may sound, receiving an FTN, while stressful, is often the first step toward getting help with overdue bills.

What Happens After an FTN Is Issued?

An FTN means more than just a potential power loss. Under the Home Energy Fair Practices Act, it marks the beginning of a minimum 15-day notice period before shutoff can occur. As mentioned above, a DPA is typically offered five business days after an FTN is issued. If the terms are unaffordable, customers can call Central Hudson and ask if they qualify for a minimum payment agreement by submitting a financial statement. This step is crucial: DSS usually won’t provide assistance unless the customer is enrolled in a minimum agreement—or has no income.

Other programs—like HEAP, Emergency HEAP, and Central Hudson’s Bill Discount Program—do not require a payment agreement to apply. However, Central Hudson’s Good Neighbor Fund does require that a customer first default on a minimum payment agreement before qualifying.

Debt Relief or Debt Management? A Shifting Strategy

When we look at reconnection trends over time, a shift in outcomes emerges. In early 2020, about 23% of service restorations came from HEAP or DSS, while 28% were through DPAs. For customers in Central Hudson’s Energy Assistance Program (EAP), 62% of reconnections were through HEAP or DSS and 13% through DPAs. But by May 2025, only 1.1% of reconnections came from HEAP or DSS, while 52% were through DPAs. EAP data for the same period show 20% from HEAP or DSS and nearly 59% from DPAs.

This shift suggests a transition away from debt relief toward repayment plans that stretch out the debt over time. Across all customers, reconnections using HEAP or DSS decreased by 22 percentage points (from 23% to 1.1%), while those using DPAs increased by 24 percentage points (from 28% to 52%).

The Barriers to Public Assistance

Returning to the options available after receiving an FTN or being shut off—enter a DPA, seek public assistance, or pay in full—we see how limited the options truly are. Paying in full is unrealistic for most, and reconnection data shows public assistance rarely works in practice. As sociologist Dr. Diana Hernández documents in Powerless, energy assistance programs are often riddled with complexity. Limited funding, narrow eligibility rules, and a lack of transparency mean that even well-meaning programs can fail the people they’re designed to serve.

Some customers are excluded due to income thresholds that don’t reflect actual cost of living. Others never even hear about the programs in time. And for those who do qualify, the burden of applying—paperwork, deadlines, follow-ups—can be overwhelming when you’re already in crisis.

Closing Thoughts & What’s Next

In short, DPAs have become the only reliable path for most customers to avoid shutoff and restore service. In my next blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the trends and interactions between Central Hudson’s customers in arrears and the Deferred Payment Agreements that are supposed to assist them. If you need help navigating a Final Termination Notice or understanding your DPA, don’t hesitate to reach out. And! If you’re looking for a guaranteed way to save on your utility bills, you might benefit from our community solar program. We’d love to hear from you.