ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The New York Public Service Commission hosted a public meeting in Albany Tuesday night to discuss rate hikes proposed by National Grid. Dozens were in attendance.
The proposed increase is about 15 percent for electricity and a 20 percent increase for gas. If approved by state regulators, the changes would take effect in April. The company said the average customer bill would go up by about $18.
Many who attended the meeting expressed their concerns about the economic impact of a rate hike. One man said National Grid is moving too slow in complying with New York State’s climate law and questioned where the extra money will be going.
“First of all, National Grid can talk about its concern all it wants, but it is really, frankly, outrageous for them to say that the reason why we might pay a double-digit increase is to comply with the state’s climate law,” Citizen Action of New York Policy Dir. Bob Cohen said. “I have looked through their materials, hundreds of pages, and they have not documented those costs.”
Cohen also said he believes the state legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul deserve some of the blame. He said they should look at the proposed costs by National Grid and decide what portion of it should be paid by rate payers.
National Grid, meanwhile, said they are doing several things to comply with climate concerns, including a $4 billion plan to invest in their electric system over the next seven years to reach the state’s energy goals. But spokesperson Patrick Stella also said there are other reasons for the proposed hike.
“Obviously, costs have gone up. Everybody’s seen that. People talked about it here today,” he said. “Healthcare, food. The cost that we incur to actually maintain our system, costs for poles, cost for copper, cost for wire, cost for labor. All of those things have gone up significantly.”
Stella said National Grid understands how some will not be able to afford the price increases. He said the company can work with those customers and information is available on their website along with the rate case filings.
The process will take about 11 to 12 months. Tuesday’s meeting was the first of several public hearings.
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