CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN DEMANDS CENTRAL HUDSON STOP RATE HIKES UNTIL BILLING PROBLEMS ARE FIXED

Congressman Pat Ryan Demands Central Hudson Stop Rate Hikes Until Billing Problems are Fixed

Central Hudson filed this morning to increase electric rates by 16% and natural gas rates by 19% 

Ryan: “Central Hudson has no business raising rates until their billing issues are completely fixed and every person impacted is made whole”

KINGSTON, NY –  Today, Congressman Pat Ryan demanded that Central Hudson stop their proposed rate hike until their long standing billing problems are fully addressed. This morning, Central Hudson filed with the New York Public Service Commission to increase electric rates by 16% and natural gas rates by 19%. 

“Hudson Valley families are still reeling from a year-plus of Central Hudson’s systemic failures. While the company is now working to fix these issues and rebuild trust, it’s absolutely unacceptable to raise costs on our hard-working families until all of their billing issues are fully remedied,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “I am calling on Central Hudson to cease its attempts to raise rates until the billing problems are completely fixed and all customers are made whole. That is the only way to rebuild trust with our community and finally move past these issues once and for all.” 

Last week, an independent monitor was appointed in an effort to hold Central Hudson accountable on their promise to fix their billing failures. Since Congressman Ryan’s calls for an investigation into Central Hudson’s disastrous billing practices a year ago, he has received more than 11,000 formal complaints. A New York State Department of Public Service report revealed that Central Hudson’s billing system was riddled with hundreds of programming errors. This led to nearly 5,000 customers not receiving their bills, 8,000 customers being overcharged, and more than 30,000 customers whose autopay was billed incorrectly, costing them over $16 million.

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