Letter from Mike Tripoli
Oberacker Tackling Electricity Costs
After I retired a few years ago, I longed to spend my golden years in Upstate New York. But these days my dream feels more like a nightmare. Like so many of our neighbors, my wife and I are struggling to afford our energy bills.
The cost of heating and lighting our home has doubled in the last five years. Big utility companies such as NYSEG offer “assistance” but no explanation how a monthly rate in a two-person household could rise to more than $500.00. If this continues we may be forced to sell our home and move far away from family and friends.
Thankfully, help is on the way. This year our state Senator Peter Oberacker introduced the Utility Ratepayer Bill of Rights. It’s a comprehensive set of protections for ratepayers like me that holds utility companies accountable for their out-of-control pricing. It includes prohibitions on these companies using monthly bill payments to lobby politicians for sweetheart deals, mandatory in-person hearings on all proposed hikes, full transparency on bills and a requirement to send these communications in plain English, creation of a long-overdue Consumer Advocate Office, financial safeguards for consumers during shutdowns and outages, and much more.
The Ratepayer Bill of Rights may seem like common sense, yet politicians from both parties have thus far failed to propose a reform plan as bold as Oberacker’s legislation. While Republicans defend these government-created monopolies, Democrats add radical environmental mandates that drive up costs even more. We can’t afford the uniparty’s energy policy in 2026.
Let’s not forget the New York Public Service Commission and all of Governor Hochul’s appointees that approved of these latest rate increases.
I’m supporting the immediate passage of Sen. Peter Oberacker’s Utility Ratepayer Bill of Rights and I encourage my friends and neighbors to call their state representatives and do the same. It’s time to return power to the people for real.
Mike Tripoli
Town of Plainfield
I live in an upstairs apartment. I am not home 10 hrs sometimes 16 hrs a day! I haven’t had my heat above 60 degrees all winter, I don’t use lights at night; just the light from the tv and candles. I do not leave anything not necessary plugged in. I don’t use my stove very often. I am VERY conscientious with my bills. Last month my bill was $385 and this month $365! This is impossible, I don’t know what National Grid is doing but it must be illegal! In September my bill was only $35. I can’t afford this type of electric bill when I’m not even home using extra electricity! PLEASE STOP THIS Senator Oberacker.
Taxpayers Bill of rights–who is going to enforce these rights –need solar and an independent source of power so that rates come down and people can generate their own power