Environmental advocacy groups like  We Act 4 Change are making passage of the NY HEAT Act their top priority as legislative session nears its close.

Climate Justice Campaign Manager Annie Carforo said the legislation aims to align state policy with climate goals already on the books.

"This last winter, we saw 1.4 million New Yorkers struggling to pay their energy bills. People need relief and our elected leaders need to be fighting for the people who elected them, not these fracked gas companies," Carforo said.

The organization recently launched a targeted digital ad campaign telling constituents to contact their state Assemblymembers and tell them to support the legislation which they claim can save New Yorkers up to $75 a month.

"We are targeting people who have either failed to embrace this bill or are not fighting or not meaningfully supporting the NY HEAT Act enough," Carforo said.

Western New York Democrats Bill Conrad and Monica Wallace are among the Assemblymembers the group is targeting. Wallace said she does not support the bill in its current form.

"I've had conversations with manufacturers, I've had conversations with labor, I've had conversations with business councils, all of whom have expressed some real concerns about it," she said.

Advocates said stipulations that cap utility bills at 6% of a household's monthly income and another that ends a mandate forcing ratepayers to bear the cost of building out infrastructure for carbon-based fossil fuels will lead to utility savings. Wallace disagreed, arguing she believes few of her constituents are anywhere near the proposed cap.

"I don't believe (people will pay less). I'm actually concerned it's going to cost my constituents a lot more money," she said.

Wallace said she supported the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which codified the state's emission reduction goals. However, she said lawmakers have a responsibility to carefully consider not only environmental impacts, but the economic ones, in implementing it.

"This is a delicate balancing act and I think trying to jam down a piece of legislation in the last week of session when there's still a lot of concern about it, there's still a lot of opposition is not the way to go," Wallace said.

Both sides point to National Grid's request this week to the Public Service Commission for a double-digit rate hike as fodder for their arguments for and against the bill. Advocates said its another sign why lawmakers need to take action to limit utility costs and move toward more sustainable energy sources while Wallace believes the request is in direct response to new challenges the company expects to face from laws like the NY HEAT Act.

However, she also said she does not believe ratepayers are not ready for that kind of hike.

Wallace says despite the ads, her office has received few calls in support of the NY HEAT Act.