Your heating bill will probably be raised to fund canal clean-up

If you live in certain parts of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, your heating bill is about to go up—and it’s not because of the Polar Vortex.

In an attempt to clean the Gowanus Canal, which has been disgusting for ages, the standard National Grid heating bill will increase $9.40 a month. That’s a two percent raise, which will happen if the project’s cost goes above $25 million. It’s likely to hit about $800 million, so it’s less of an “if” and more of a “when.”

The funds will go toward reducing pollution in the canal, with the entirety of the cash for the project coming from the heating bill hike. National Grid is one of the companies responsible for polluting the canal in the first place, so it’s only fair that now you have to pay to clean it, right?

The plan will start in January, with an additional raise expected for 2018 as well. And no, your apartment still won’t be any warmer.