BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal program is set to expire sometime in April, and if it does the internet bill for more than 163,000 Western New York Households could increase by $30.
The Affordable Connectivity Program is expected to run out of funding in April. The program started in December 2021 as a way to help those working from home during the height of the pandemic with their internet bill. Congress allocated $14.2 billion for the program.
Currently, 23.2 million households in the country are benefitting from the $30/month discount on their home internet bill.
New York State has the second highest enrollment of the program in the country, with 1.7 million households utilizing the benefit. California is the highest with 2.8 million households enrolled.
As of January 1, 2024, there were 160,733 households in WNY enrolled in the benefit program:
- Allegany - 4,089
- Cattaraugus - 7,262
- Chautauqua - 15,463
- Erie - 97,747
- Genesee - 4,871
- Niagara - 24,003
- Orleans - 4,354
- Wyoming - 2,944
On its own, Erie County has the 5th highest enrollment in the program in the state, behind 4 counties that make up New York City.
The FCC stopped accepting enrollments for the program on February 7, in anticipation of the program running out of funding in April. The FCC created an ACP Wind-Down fact sheet on its website.
How do you know if this will impact your internet bill?
If you didn't enroll in the program, your internet bill shouldn't be impacted--but experts say you should still keep an eye on it in case there's a "mix-up" with your provider.
If you enrolled in the program, and it's not renewed by Congress, you will likely see your internet bill increase by $30 in May. Some providers, such as Verizon, are offering incentives and will honor the benefit if your switch to their service.
The FCC suggests checking with your provider for information regarding the wind-down of the ACP.
What is Congress Doing?
As it stands now, Congress has not passed a renewal of the program.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand told 2 On Your Side that she has sponsored a bill that would continue the program.
"We basically just have to fight to get more money," Gillibrand said. "We have a bunch of appropriation bills that we're trying to get our language in, right now we're not getting to vote on it.."
Gillibrand blamed chaos in the House of Representatives for the appropriation bills not getting a vote.
"We've had a lot of challenges with the new speaker, he doesn't seem to have sea legs yet." Gillibrand said. "He's been unable to govern and get votes on the simplest things,"
As for the WNY delegation in the House, 2 On Your Side reached out to Congressman Langworthy and Congresswoman Tenney for comment about the funding cliff the ACP is heading towards.
Congressman Langworthy's office did not respond to our inquiry.
Congresswoman Tenney's office responded saying simply "Unfortunately we wont be able to make this work," regarding an interview about the topic.
Respectively, there are 69,666 households in Tenney's district using the benefit and 63,410 in Langworthy's district.