About 5.2 Million More New Yorkers Are Due POWER Energy Rebate Checks Through December, After the First 3 Million Went Out

A New York household that has not opened a state envelope since September may be in the larger group. The state said on Oct. 15 that about 3 million New Yorkers had already received a POWER energy rebate check, and that about 5.2 million more are on the way, bringing the total to 8.2 million.

The checks are $100, $150 or $200, they are mailed automatically, and the mailing runs through December, according to the Governor’s office. Most of the questions that come up are about timing and delivery, and the state’s own pages answer several of them.

3 Million Delivered, 5.2 Million Still to Come

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office announced the figures on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. Deliveries began Sept. 21 and, according to the announcement, continue through December. The release said the remaining 5.2 million checks would be sent “in the coming weeks.”

Local reporting carried the same numbers. WNBF News Radio reported on Oct. 16 that about 3 million New Yorkers had received checks and about 5.2 million more would follow. When the mailing was first announced, amNewYork reported on Sept. 14 that the one-time payments are part of a $1 billion program in the state’s 2026-27 budget, with checks going to 8.2 million households from September through December.

The state has not published a mailing calendar. The Tax Department says it “cannot provide a specific delivery schedule,” and that mailing is not based on zip code or region, so a neighbor’s check arriving first says nothing about when another will come.

By the state’s count, then, a little more than 6 in 10 of the 8.2 million checks were still to be mailed or delivered as of mid-October. That share is simple arithmetic on the announced figures, and the state has not updated them since.

State Sen. Kevin Parker said in the announcement that “the POWER rebates offer timely relief as New Yorkers prepare for winter heating costs.” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said New Yorkers “need relief, deserve it and will get it with the issuance of POWER checks.”

Who Gets $100, $150 or $200

The amount depends on filing status and income on the 2024 New York return. The Governor’s office listed joint filers with incomes under $150,000 at $200, joint filers with incomes from $150,000 to $300,000 at $150, and single filers with incomes under $150,000 at $100.

The Tax Department page, last updated Oct. 20, 2026, adds the conditions. A recipient must have timely filed a 2024 New York resident return (Form IT-201), been a full-year New York resident in 2024, reported income within the thresholds, and not been claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s 2024 return. Timely means filed by April 15, 2025, or by Oct. 15, 2025, under a valid extension.

The department’s table lists no amount for single filers, heads of household or married people filing separately with income above $150,000, which means those filers are not named as eligible there. No utility bill is required, and nobody needs to apply. A household that did not file a 2024 New York resident return does not get a check, according to the department.

Mail Only, to the Address on File

Direct deposit is not an option. The Tax Department says the checks are mailed, even for taxpayers whose income tax refund was deposited directly into a bank account.

Checks go to the most recent address on file, usually the one from the latest filed return. The department says an address can be updated through an Individual Online Services Account. Households that moved after filing are the ones most likely to see a check sent to an old address, and the state’s page does not describe a way to reissue a check sent to the wrong place.

The department also says the check is not applied to outstanding debts, so a refund offset does not reduce it.

No Way to Track a Check

The department’s page offers no online or phone tool for checking where a check stands, and it states that Contact Center representatives will not have information on check status. A household still waiting in early November is therefore waiting without a lookup, inside a mailing window the state says runs through December.

The same page links to a “Report fraud” form. Because the state says the checks come by mail without an application, a message or call asking for a fee, a bank login or a Social Security number to “release” a POWER payment does not match how the state describes the program.

Other Utility Help in the Same Announcement

The Oct. 15 announcement also pointed to the state’s Energy Affordability Program, which gives income-eligible households a monthly discount on electric or gas bills. According to the Governor’s office, it serves about 1 million households, and about 50,000 more have applied since an enrollment push began in mid-September. State officials estimate about 2.5 million more households are eligible but not enrolled.

The Department of Public Service says households receiving programs such as HEAP, SNAP, Medicaid or SSI may be enrolled automatically, and that others can apply through nyeeap.com or their utility. For households deciding what to do about winter heating, a separate story covers the state’s higher HEAP benefit for oil and propane homes, and an earlier explainer lays out the POWER rules without a utility bill.

The state’s figures leave one open question: how many of the 5.2 million remaining checks will arrive in November and how many in December. Neither the Governor’s office nor the Tax Department has said, and the department’s page does not set a date.

Get stories like this by email. Sign up for The Parent Diaries Letter.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Navya Sriramaneni – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons