Community, Electeds Oppose NYSEG Rate Hikes at Hearing
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
ONEONTA
A bipartisan group of around 70 community members gathered at the SUNY Oneonta Morris Conference Center last Wednesday, October 15 at 1 p.m. to oppose proposed utility rate hikes by New York State Electric and Gas. It was one of several Public Service Commission hearings across Upstate New York. Administrative Law Judges Ashley Moreno and Tara Kersey presided over the hearing.
NYSEG is requesting a 35 percent increase in delivery revenues, or 18.4 percent total revenues, for the rate year ending April 30, 2027. According to the New York State Department of Public Service, the rate hike could lead to a “monthly bill increase of $33.12 (23.7 percent increase to total bill) for a typical residential customer using 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh).”
All speakers, including several local public officials, opposed the proposed rate hikes. Many shared stories of already increasing electricity prices without an official hike, adding to other increases in cost of living. Some shared stories of sitting in the dark or using household appliances to stay warm to avoid spending more on electricity. Many panned NYSEG—a subsidiary of Avangrid Inc., which is controlled by Spanish parent company Iberdrola—as only interested in profit. One speaker called for a return to public ownership of utilities.
Several speakers from the crowd of mostly older individuals said the hearing was held at an inaccessible time for working people, who are among those most impacted by rate increases.
“A rate increase would be detrimental to the people of my senate district,” said State Senator and new congressional candidate Peter Oberacker, a Republican. He said his office has received more than 570 complaints from residents about electricity costs.
“The average NYSEG bill reported was $582.00 a month,” Oberacker said.
Oberacker said his office has taken up hundreds of rate cases to advocate for fixes for alleged overcharging.
“NYSEG now claims 442 outreach attempts, then our people report missed calls and voicemails, not fixes,” Oberacker said. He demanded a “full account level audit” of cases like these.
“Bottom line, New Yorkers deserve answers, transparency and relief,” Oberacker said.
Oberacker also touted his proposed “Ratepayer Bill of Rights,” legislation he plans to introduce that would include bans on political contributions from regulated utilities and creation of a Utility Consumer Advocate Office, among other provisions.
Later, his opponent, Democratic Rep. Josh Riley, also spoke against the hikes. Responding to prior NYSEG statements that the rate hike would be necessary for the company’s financial integrity, Riley said, “I just don’t know how else to say this: It’s bullsh*t. We know it’s not true.”
“NYSEG is telling its investors a completely different story,” Riley said. “What we saw in NYSEG’s last quarterly report is that in the first six months of this year, it raked in $125 million in profits.”
He also read stories constituents had sent to his office, including one where an individual said they burned their foot trying to heat themselves with a hairdryer to save electricity.
Former State Assemblyman John Salka, Milford Central School Superintendent Kristin Shearer, Town of Oneonta supervisor candidate Will Rivera, councilman for the City of Oneonta’s 5th Ward Len Carson and the president of SUNY Oneonta’s CSEA Local 635, Jennifer Regg, all spoke against the hikes.
Regg said that “five, six years ago, we could pay all our bills.” Now, savings are out of reach. In those years, Regg said, she and her husband had both received promotions and raises. And yet, “we live paycheck to paycheck, and my husband just started a second job.”
“When I’m paying more for my groceries to feed my family than for my mortgage, there’s a problem,” Regg said. “And now my NYSEG bill is catching up to that? That’s a bigger problem.”
Some speakers mentioned data centers and cryptocurrency in their remarks.
“These are services that do not benefit us, and they’re actually pretty unethical,” Oneonta resident Heidi Sanford testified. If their expansion is responsible for increased electricity demand, Sanford said, “These costs should not be falling on rate payers.”
Asked after the hearing about Eco-Yotta Inc.’s proposal in the Town of Oneonta, Riley told AllOtsego, “I think one of the very first questions, if not the very first question, we should be asking around any of these projects, is, how are you going to pay for the energy?”
Riley added, “We cannot allow folks who are already getting squeezed in the community to end up being on the hook for the expenses of yet another big corporation. So if they don’t have a plan to make sure that they are handling all of their energy needs, then they shouldn’t even be looking at it.”
The PSC had two more virtual hearings on October 21, completing its scheduled hearings. The PSC will determine whether to approve the rate increase.
