Westchester residents and elected officials testified against Con Edison’s proposed rate hikes at four recent public hearings, with the county’s top elected official calling the utility companies plan “unfair, unaffordable, and unacceptable.”
County Executive Ken Jenkins spoke at the July 8 public hearing in Cortlandt Town Hall — one of four in Westchester over the span of two days — highlighting the community-level impact of the proposed rate hikes.
Jenkins, a Democrat, emphasized that working families, seniors, and small businesses are already struggling with fixed incomes and multiple jobs due to the increase in utility bills and flat wages.
He called the Con Ed proposal “ unfair, unaffordable and unacceptable” for Westchester residents and may force many to choose between paying utilities bills and necessities like food, medicine, and childcare.
The electric and gas company, which provides energy to New York City and much of Westchester, submitted a controversial proposal in January to the New York State Department of Public Service asking the agency to approve 11.4 and 13.3 percent increases on electric and natural gas delivery, respectively.
Although a private company, Con Edison is regulated by the state Public Service Commission, a division within the DPS.
“Con Edison cannot be allowed to continue to pass their costs on to consumers without full transparency, real justification and measurable accountability” Jenkins said.
The public hearings were also held on July 9.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, another vocal critic of Con Ed’s proposal, spoke out at the July 9 public hearing at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. Mayer has “urged the PSC to reject Con Edison’s proposal.”
Both Mayer and Jenkins pushed to have the PSC schedule public hearings in Westchester.
Mayer explained that Con Ed shareholders have experienced “tremendous financial gain” over the past several years. She said “judging from Con Edison’s financial statements as well as executive pay, their profits are already high enough.”
In her 37th Senate District, which includes the city of Rye, Mayer said in a press release that “20% of households have incomes of less than $50,000 a year, another 20% make under $100,000, and almost 20% are seniors, many living on fixed incomes.”
She ended her testimony by calling on the PSC to rigorously apply the standard to prevent Con Ed from including dubious expenses to inflate their ate increase.
The Department of Public Service has not yet set a date for the PSC to vote on the ConEd proposal.
