The New York State Senate”™s Committee on Investigations and Government Operations has opened an investigation into the pricing and billing practices of utilities and power companies, including Con Edison, Con Ed’s Orange & Rockland Utilities division and Central Hudson Gas & Electric, which is based in Poughkeepsie.
The committee is chaired by Sen. James Skoufis, whose 39th District includes much of Orange County, parts of southern Ulster County, and parts of northern Rockland County. Skoufis made the investigation announcement at the New Windsor home of a constituent who had been hit with high utility bills.
“Folks on fixed incomes ”“ seniors, parents, disabled New Yorkers, single-income households ”“ are being robbed blind and it has to stop,” Skoufis said. “$2,600 to keep a small home warm? $1,400 to power a small 2-bedroom apartment? That”™s a disgrace. It”™s unsustainable, and we can”™t let these utilities run roughshod over our wallets without asking the tough questions.”
The Public Utility Law Project (PULP), a nonprofit based in Albany, said that as of March 5 there were 1.3 million households, or about one in five New Yorkers, who were 60 days or more behind in paying their electric and natural gas utility bills.
Skoufis said that many residents have been seen their electric and heating bills double or even triple in recent months and alleged the utility companies knew what was going to be happening.
“Can they honestly say they didn”™t see this coming? Can they honestly say they did everything in their power to assist and support customers in this time of need? Absolutely not,” Skoufis said. “If there was any foul play here, we owe it to constituents to expose that wrongdoing, hold bad actors accountable, and ensure it never happens again.”
Skoufis said the committee”™s plan is to request information and documents from the various utilities under the threat of subpoena if they don”™t cooperate. He also said the committee plans to look at whether the state was doing enough in its role as the regulator of utilities.
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan separately submitted a letter to Rory Christian, chairman of the New York State Public Service Commission, calling for an official investigation of Central Hudson”™s billing practices and related price surges.
PULP Executive Director Richard Berkley, who joined Skoufis for the announcement, said, “Hudson Valley consumers already pay too much for energy, and in times like these when one in five New Yorkers are behind on their energy bills the ”˜rate surge”™ has put additional, unneeded stress on the budgets of struggling households in our communities, and across the state.”
