Why a Gas Bill Strike? National Grid wants to raise our monthly bills to pay for the North Brooklyn fracked gas pipeline. We must refuse to pay for a pipeline that will harm Black and Brown working-class communities and our climate.

FAQ’s

How do I participate?

If you are a downstate National Grid customer (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Southeast Queens or Long Island) sign this pledge and then withhold $66 the next time you pay your bill. THE TOTAL YOU WILL OWE TO NATIONAL GRID FOR THE DURATION OF THE STRIKE IS $66. Every month you will pay a portion of your bill, carrying a $66 balance forward to the next month. So, say your bill is $100, you only pay $34 and leave a $66 unpaid balance. And if your next month’s bill is $90, you only pay $24.

Will my gas get turned off? Will I be charged a penalty? What’s the risk?

No. Maybe less than a dollar per month. And there’s very little risk.

Your gas will not get turned off and there is a lot less risk because you are still paying a portion of your bill and just leaving $66 unpaid as long as the strike is going on. New York State law says that as long as you pay a portion of your bill within 20 days there shouldn’t be a late fee, but if Grid did charge you a late fee it would only be 1.5% of an unpaid bill, so on $66 that’s less a dollar. 

What if my gas bill isn’t even $66 dollar a month? 

Most likely you’re only paying for cooking gas but perhaps gas for heating and hot water is included in your rent. You can still participate in the strike! 

If your bill is less than $66 we recommend paying a small portion every month, say $5 each month until your balance due is over $66. If at the end of the strike paying off a $66 bill would be challenging you can withhold $6.60 instead. 

What if I have an ESCo like Clearview, Constellation, Spark, Green Mountain Energy etc.?

An ESCo (or Energy Service Company) is just a middle man between energy generation and your local utility. In New York City there are no ESCo’s for gas so if you subscribe to an ESCo that’s for your Con Ed bill. So you are still paying your gas bill to National Grid, and are 100% able to participate in the gas bill strike with us! It will not affect your subscription with your ESCo.

How will National Grid know I’m on rate strike because of this pipeline?

We launched the strike with a press conference on June 1 to explain why folks are withholding $66 in protest. They’ll start to notice thousands of people have unpaid balances of $66. Also we’ll give updates on how many people have signed the pledge. 

Also post about it on social media! Tag National Grid. You can also email or call their customer service to let them know why you’re on strike just to hit the message home again! 

How is the $66 to be held? In escrow accounts? What are the “nuts and bolts” of this part of the plan?

You just leave a $66 unpaid balance every time you pay your gas bill. Since it’s only $66 there’s no need to put the money in escrow. There was a model of this kind of resistance in 1981 when a million Con Edison ratepayers withheld 10% of their monthly bills for a year, with no shutoffs, no penalties, in protest for poor management and the coverup of a leak at their Indian Point nuclear plant. At the end of that year Con Ed actually gave the customers credit for 90% of the money withheld.

Why withhold $66?

National Grid wants us to pay back the almost $129 million they spent on the North Brooklyn Pipeline in 2020 and 2021. Since there are 1.9 million downstate customers, we’ll each pay about $66 over time for the pipeline. By withholding $66 we are refusing to pay for the North Brooklyn Pipeline. 

Will this affect my credit score? 

No. Typically unpaid utility bills do not impact your credit score because utilities rarely report unpaid balances to collections. And National Grid has a long standing policy not to report active accounts to collections. So since you’re still paying a portion of your bill during the strike, it’s very very unlikely that National Grid would try to report the unpaid $66 to a collections agency. In the very unlikely case National Grid did try to retaliate and started reporting strikers to collections, the No NBK Pipeline Coalition would have your back and help you fight it.

How long is the strike? When will it end?

We’ll keep holding back the $66 until either NYS overturns the rate hike that is making us pay for the pipeline or National Grid stops collecting money for the pipeline. 

Right now, our elected officials are asking Governor Kathy Hochul to examine the rate hike approved by Cuomo’s regulators. See the letter elected wrote to the Governor HERE

We did it before, and can do it again!

It took about a year for a similar strike against Con Ed. In 1981, utility giant ConEd charged customers for clean-up costs for their accident at Indian Point Nuclear Plant. Nearly 1 million New Yorkers withheld 10% of their bill, with a note to the utility stating they were on strike for the incident and the unjust rate hike for the company’s negligence. The increased charge was reimbursed to all customers, and the strikers claimed a victory.

We think we’ll need thousands of strikers to move NYS or National Grid, so we really need you to join the strike and help us recruit more strikers! How are we certain this will work? We’ve done it before! We Can Do It Again!

What if I’m on automatic billing? 

You’ll need to switch off automatic billing to be able to withhold the $66. And you might want to put a reminder in your phone to pay your bill so you don’t forget. 

What if my landlord pays my gas bill? 

Ask them to join the strike for your building! And it is the perfect way to start the larger conversation with your landlord about getting your building off gas. 

Also, if you don’t pay a gas bill or can’t strike for some other reason you can still contribute to the strike by asking 5 friends or neighbors to join! 

What are other reasons we should strike against the North Brooklyn pipeline?

Aside from being unnecessary infrastructure, over 40,000 public comments were filed opposing it, and every local, state, and federal elected officials from districts along the path of the pipeline, and the Mayor of NYC voiced opposition to it as well. NY state agencies and National Grid ignore public opinion expressed in comments, letters, rallies, and civil disobedience. Now, we know we need to hit them in the wallet, the one thing they pay attention to and withhold our money for their poisonous project. 

On June 1, 2021, we launched the National Grid Gas Bill Strike! at a press conference in front of the National Grid U.S. Headquarters in downtown Brooklyn.

Communities have been fighting back against this pipeline for almost 2 years but in August New York State approved National Grid’s plan to raise our monthly bills to pay for the pipeline and other harmful fossil fuel projects.

One of the ways the community is fighting back is we’ve launched a Gas Bill Strike to refuse to pay for the pipeline. 

Almost 400 people have pledged to not pay for the pipeline already and are withholding $66 of their bill, which is about what the average National Grid customer will pay over time for the pipeline. If you’re striking say why you are 

Are you a National Grid customer and would you be interested in joining the gas bill strike? Because this isn’t a full bill strike and we’re still paying a portion of our bills there is a lot less risk but it could have a huge impact on our current unjust energy system!

Join the Strike!