Powerful pandemic cost: $1.14 billion in unpaid utility bills May lead to re-thinking of assistance efforts FacebookTwitterEmail 1of3 Record numbers of people are behind on their utility bills amid the pandemic.Times Union file photoShow MoreShow Less Ray Burlett, chief line mechanic hotstick for National Grid, stocks a truck in the truck barn at National Grid on Friday, Feb. 14, 2020 in Queensbury, N.Y. More New Yorkers have fallen behind on their utility bills in the wake of the pandemic. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)Lori Van Buren/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less ALBANY — Pandemic-battered New Yorkers owe $1.14 billion in unpaid gas and electric bills, suggesting that the statewide moratorium on cut-offs will likely have to continue for the foreseeable future.