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Ready for Every Season: O&R Provides Customers with Payment Assistance Options, Prepares System for Winter

  • Orange & Rockland Media Relations

  • Pearl River – October 28, 2025 -- 12:00 PM

Company Offers Payment Plans, Budget Billing, and Low-Income Discounts

 

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) remains ready for every season, and with winter approaching, the company is offering programs to help customers with their energy bills, sharing energy conservation tips that could help them save money, and undertaking significant projects that improve the reliability and resilience of its electric and gas systems.

O&R offers Payment Plans and Assistance, including Budget Billing, which spreads customer costs out throughout the year, so they are able to pay off balances over time, rather than all at once. Customers are also encouraged to check out the company’s energy efficiency incentives and programs for cost-saving upgrades they can make to their homes.

Customers who receive benefits from certain government programs may also qualify for discounts on their energy bills through the company’s Energy Affordability Program. In 2024, O&R provided $22 million to reduce bills of approximately 16,300 income-eligible customers. Beginning in 2026, the New York State Public Service Commission’s new enhanced energy affordability policy will extend eligibility to all residential utility customers below median income. 

The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), a federal program, also provides benefits to income-eligible customers to help cover heating costs. For more information on the 2025-2026 HEAP application schedule, click here.

The least expensive and most environmentally friendly energy is the energy that is not used. The best way for customers to take control of their bill is to manage their usage of gas and electricity by following these energy saving tips.

 

  • Set thermostats at the lowest comfortable temperature. Each degree higher increases heating costs.
  • Clear area around heating and cooling vents. Carpets, furniture, and other objects can block vents and prevent heated air from circulating in your home.
  • Have a qualified contractor clean and inspect heating systems.
  • Wash clothes in cold water to avoid using unnecessary heating.  
  • Insulate hot-water pipes and warm-air ducts that pass through unheated areas. Clean or replace filters for the hot-air furnace and heat pump.
  • Swap out window shades seasonally. Light-colored window coverings reflect the sun's energy, while darker ones absorb it and release heat.
  • Take showers instead of baths. Showers use half as much water as baths. Less hot water means less energy used.
  • Unplug electronics when they’re not in use. Some high-energy devices like computers, televisions, and game consoles use electricity even when they’re turned off.

 

Winter Energy Costs

As a result of increased supply costs, a typical O&R residential electric customer using 550 kWh per month this winter will pay approximately $152 per month, a 12.6 percent increase over last winter’s $135 per month cost.

O&R currently projects that its typical residential natural gas heating customer using an average of 151 ccf per month this winter will pay approximately $273 per month from November 2025 to March 2026, 10.9 percent more than the average bill of $247 per month a year ago.

The company does not set supply costs and does not make a profit on the supply. However, O&R does take steps to keep energy bills as low as possible. These steps include locking in energy prices when energy is cheaper.


O&R buys natural gas and electricity on the wholesale markets and uses a variety of strategies to stabilize pricing for customers.


Natural gas supplies are expected to remain sufficient this winter, but any disruptions from interstate gas transmission providers or severe weather could constrain supplies. O&R remains vigilant in its monitoring of operational conditions. O&R notes that energy costs can change quickly due to international events, economic trends, weather, and other factors. The company will continue to refine its winter pricing forecast.

 

Investing in Reliable Infrastructure

Winter brings an increased threat of severe weather, and O&R continues its storm hardening initiative to make its energy systems more resilient. After successfully completing a series of projects over the course of the spring and summer that improved service reliability, additional work is underway for significant projects at strategic locations.

Underground Climate Resilience

O&R energized a temporary mobile substation on Larkin Drive in Monroe at the end of June and recently completed the installation of approximately 10,500 feet of new underground distribution cable at the location that will provide a temporary power source until the new Forest Avenue Substation is constructed in 2026. Once the new substation is completed, these underground circuits will remain in service but will be transferred to the new substation.

O&R also continues to make significant progress on its Transmission Line 705 project, where the company is constructing 5.5 miles of new underground transmission cable in Clarkstown. The project, one of the largest in O&R history, will provide additional electric power to southern Rockland County, improving service reliability and making the system safer and more robust. The construction route spans from west to east, starting from North Pascack Road in Nanuet, down West Nyack Road towards West Nyack.

Through the end of October, O&R will be installing a protected underground system of distribution and transmission cable along West Nyack Road, and interconnecting manholes from North Pascack Road towards Route 59. Crews will then complete installation along North Pascack Road and Route 304 crossing along West Nyack Road.

The project is estimated to be completed in Spring 2027.

Improving Gas Reliability

O&R has also taken proactive steps to strengthen the reliability of its natural gas distribution system. The Tappan Gate Station Integrity Upgrade project is a key initiative designed to ensure that homes and businesses across our service area will have dependable heat throughout the winter months.


Recent upgrades include the replacement of critical pipeline sections with new, high-grade steel piping, as well as the installation of advanced station equipment featuring state-of-the-art technology. These enhancements are expected to boost operational efficiency, support compliance with current industry standards, and reinforce the long-term safety and reliability of O&R’s gas infrastructure.

 

About O&R

Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. O&R is a regulated utility that provides electric service to approximately 300,000 customers in southeastern New York State (where its franchise name is Orange and Rockland Utilities) and northern New Jersey (where it’s Rockland Electric Company), and natural gas service to approximately 140,000 customers in New York. 

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