In February, thousands of New York state prison guards walked off their jobs. With no officers to watch over daily operations, officials locked incarcerated people in their cells for days at a time. Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 6,000 National Guard troops, who assisted skeleton crews in trying to keep more than 30,000 prisoners fed and showered. At least seven incarcerated people died amid the chaos.

The wildcat strike ended after three weeks. Yet four months later, thousands of officer positions remain unfilled, and the state prison agency has struggled to resume normal operations, recent court records show.

Governor Kathy Hochul has made energy affordability a centerpiece of her political platform this year, blasting proposed utility rate hikes and even promising to “slow down” implementation of the state’s climate law over the concern that the clean energy transition is costing New Yorkers too much.

But Hochul’s administration is slashing an energy affordability program that was once a priority for the governor, New York Focus has learned.

The Empower+ program was designed specifically to help low- and moderate-income households “save energy and money” through energy efficiency upgrades. Since 2023 — at Hochul’s initiative — it has been New York’s one-stop shop to help residents take advantage of green building upgrades they might not otherwise be able to afford, like better insulation and replacing old boilers.