Central Hudson’s delivery rates will go down in Year 1 – but your bills will still go up
CLP worked hard, with our allies PULP (Public Utilities Law Project) and AGREE (Alliance for a Green Economy), to defend ratepayers during the recent Central Hudson rate case. As a party to the proceeding, we submitted extensive comments, participated in online negotiations, spoke out at public hearings, and mobilized supporters to join us in fighting to keep electricity and gas rates down, limit the harm caused by fossil fuels, and do away with the pandemic-related debt that is hanging over the heads of more than a million utility customers in New York.
Remarkably, in the end, residential rates for electric delivery will actually go down this year (an average of $.33/month, retroactive to July)), and will increase by an average of $1.72 and $1.82/month in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Gas delivery rates will increase by $1.64, $2.17, and $1.50/month. This is a lot better than the increases Central Hudson originally asked for, which would have raised electric rates by an average of 6.2% for electric and 8% for gas customers. As a result of the negotiations, Central Hudson also became the first NY utility to agree to reduce the size of its gas business, aiming at a decrease of 2.5 percent from 2019 rates over the three-year term of the rate period. Unfortunately, most customers’ bills will still be going up – at least if they buy their electricity from the utility, rather than from a community solar project or other clean energy sources. Delivery costs are only a part – often less than a third – of the total utility bill, and experts predict big increases in the cost of the fossil fuels that still produce much of the electricity Central Hudson delivers. (Currently, 44% of the electricity distributed by Central Hudson comes from burning “natural gas,” or methane, which is 84 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.)
CLP’s allies were sufficiently satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations that they signed on as supporters of the outcome. CLP did not. “We are happy that we were able to achieve quite a lot,” said President of the Board Susan H. Gillespie, who participated actively in the negotiations. “We are thrilled that delivery rates will go down and stay relatively low. But we couldn’t stomach the fact that the settlement actually increases the return that Central Hudson’s stockholders will earn – from 8.9 to 9.1%. This rewards rich people for doing nothing at all at a time when thousands of hard-working people are having trouble putting food on the table.”
CLP also pushed hard for debt cancellation for the utility’s customers who are in arrears For more news on debt relief and how to join the state-wide campaign, see below.
For updates on the sources of CH electricity, see their website.