Con Ed criticized for dramatic hike in electricity charges

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers and State Sen. Shelley B. Mayerhave sent a joint letter to Con Edison and the state Public Service Commission (PSC) demanding an end to recent dramatic increases in what Con Ed is charging customers for electricity. They”™re among the latest to complain about steep hikes in the electric usage portion of Con Ed bills.

Con Ed bills contain separate charges for the cost of the electricity used by a customer and the cost of delivering the electricity to the customer.

Stewart-Cousins and Mayer said, in part, “New Yorkers cannot endure these excessive energy costs. Furthermore, we do not accept the proposition that the financial distress experienced by our constituents is purely the result of market fluctuations and therefore out of the hands of the Public Service Commission and Con Edison. Both the Public Service Commission and Con Edison have a responsibility to ratepayers, and such dramatic and unexpected cost increases demand action on your part in order to fulfill that responsibility.”

To read the letter, click on this link – PSC & Con Ed 2.10.22- Energy Bill Increases

The increases in Con Ed bills came at the same time that the utility asked the PSC for a new round of increases in the rates it can charge on the delivery side of its electricity and gas bills. It wants to increase electricity delivery charges by 11.2% and gas delivery charges by 18.2% beginning next year.

Stewart-Cousins and Mayer called for investigating what Con Edison has been doing to “alleviate the effect of energy price jumps of this magnitude, and whether more could have been done and still can be done to reduce fluctuations in energy prices.”

Sen. Peter Harckham, speaking on the floor of the State Senate, called for expanded customer rights and notice requirements by utility providers to warn of major price increases or energy costs.

“It is simply wrong for a utility company to issue bills that include considerable increases for customer service without an advance warning or satisfactory explanation of what”™s going on,” said Harckham. “Where”™s the transparency? These massive bills are distressing customers to no end. With all of the ways in which a utility can communicate to its customers, there is no excuse to stun and agitate people with these kinds of increases.”

Congressman Tom Suozzi of Long Island wrote to Con Edison”™s President and CEO Timothy Cawley complaining about the utility”™s latest rate case filed with the PSC.

“The proposal seeks a single-year increase in costs for the basic necessities of electricity and heating that outpaces the highest inflation in nearly 40 years, “ Suozzi wrote. He warned that people will be pushed into “energy poverty.”

Con Ed spokesperson Jamie McShane blamed the sudden spike in electricity charges on increased costs of natural gas used in plants that generate the electricity that Con Ed buys and resells to its customers.