Hochul, Utility Commission Demand Answers From Con Ed

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — While acknowledging that the cost of natural gas drove the recent steep rise in utility bills, Gov. Kathy Hochul called on Con Edison officials to review their billing practices.

Meanwhile, in a letter dated Feb. 11 to Con Edison CEO Timothy P. Cawley, the chair of the state's Public Utility Commission wrote to the company to respond to the agency's concerns about the drastic increases in both electric and gas bills by no later than Feb 28.

"While the Public Service Commission does not regulate commodity prices of natural gas and electricity, and New York’s utilities do not control market prices of these commodities, utility procurement and billing practices do impact the prices that customers pay and can dampen or exacerbate price swings from month to month," Chairman Rory Christian wrote. "The commission has repeatedly found that utilities have a responsibility to use strategies that responsibly procure commodity on behalf of their customers at least cost and have hedging strategies that smooth out market price fluctuations."

Con Edison has blamed the increases in utility bills on the higher cost of natural gas, which is also used to run electricity plants. The company said the rise in commodity prices was in part due to "global events" and could also be attributed to a colder than normal winter. Some Con Edison customers reported utility bills for January that were, in some cases, nearly 300 percent higher than the previous month.

SEE ALSO:

• Con Ed Blames Sky-High Bills On 'Lower Than Normal Temperatures'
• Huge Con Edison Bills Shock NYC: 'I Wanted To Really Cry'
• Con Ed Hopes To Raise $1.2 Billion From Proposed Rate Increases
• Con Ed Warns Of Rising Prices, Urges Energy Conservation

"The extreme utility bill increases we are seeing across the state come at a time when New Yorkers are already struggling financially following the COVID-19 pandemic," Governor Hochul said in a statement released Friday. "Even though the spike we are seeing in electricity, natural gas and fuel prices were predicted and are due to severe winter weather, I am calling on Con Ed to review their billing practices because we must take unified action to provide relief for New Yorkers, especially our most vulnerable residents."

Hochul said that although measures, including strategies moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels and hedging against rises in commodity prices, could help protect Con Edison's $3.5 million customers from seeing unexpected doubling and even tripling of monthly bills in the future, there are steps customers struggling to pay those bills today can take to get help.

Con Edison officials also pointed customers to a number of programs to help customers caught off guard by the sudden leap in their monthly bills.

While the utility said the recent steep rise in utility bills is largely out of their hands, the company said it wants to help. The company said a number of payment plans, extension options and public assistance programs are available to help.