As Upstate New York families grapple with soaring electricity and gas bills, Congressman Josh Riley is spearheading the effort to demand transparency and hold local utility providers accountable for needlessly jacking up costs on his constituents.
A recent feature in Ithaca Times details Riley’s efforts to hold these corporations accountable, not only launching a formal investigation into the billing practices of NYSEG and Central Hudson, but demanding that the region’s utility corporations justify the billions in profits being siphoned out of the community before raising rates on working families even more.
Riley, whose entrance into these rate cases is “unprecedented,” plans to continue using “every possible avenue” to call out corporate profiteering and push for reforms that protect his constituents from unjustified rate hikes.
Read more on the Congressman’s efforts…
Ithaca Times: Riley Takes a Stand Against Regional Electric and Gas Providers
- In April, members of the Tompkins County Legislature began discussing the need for an independent investigation into NYSEG’s billing practices after legislators reported receiving numerous complaints of unusually high bills and unresponsive customer service.
- That same month Riley launched a formal investigation into the billing practices of NYSEG and Hudson Valley utility company Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation (Central Hudson), seeking to throw a wrench into their plans to further increase rates by highlighting how they’re “jacking up prices on […] constituents while bragging to investors about record profits.”
- In a recent interview with the Ithaca Times, Riley explained that trouble paying utility bills is one of the most common issues he hears from his constituents. He added that he has officially signed on to intervene in the rate case for NYSEG and has already signed onto the rate case for Central Hudson, which is further along than the NYSEG case and expected to wrap up in the coming months.
- “Everyday I hear the anger and frustration people have with the utility monopolies, with the high prices and lack of transparency, and I’m going to fight as hard as I can for people who are frustrated with this because the deck is stacked against these folks,” Riley said.
- “These monopolies are owned by massively profitable foreign corporations that hire lawyers and lobbyists and write the rules to benefit themselves so that they control the whole system, and I want to show that this system is rigged in favor of these massive corporations and against everyday people.”
- Riley criticized NYSEG’s most recent request to increase rates, pointing out that Iberdrola announced that it saw a 26% year over year increase in profits at a recent financial meeting.
- “What the hell is going on when a company is rolling into my community and telling people it needs more money out of their pockets at the same time that its parent corporation is bragging to Wall Street about increasing profits?” Riley said. “Something is not right here.”
- While NYSEG’s new rate case has just begun, Riley said that the PSC is closer to making a final ruling on the rate case for Central Hudson, which began last year. He participated in the commission’s recent cross examination of Central Hudson representatives in an effort to ensure that it properly applies Public Service Law in its consideration of the rate increase.
- In response to questions about how often the PSC denies rate increase requests, Riley said that the PSC rarely denies rate increases outright and instead negotiates for lower increases, if it decides to take action at all, stating that the regulatory body was becoming somewhat of a “rubber stamp.”
- According to Riley, the cross examination process highlighted a glaring issue in the way the PSC considers rate cases – which is that the profits of the parent companies that own the utility companies seeking rate increases are considered “completely irrelevant” to the case.
- In response to Central Husdon’s reluctance to treat the profitability of their parent company with any relevance, Riley said, “The law says the commission has to look at both of these things, so how can the commission determine if these two things are balanced when they won’t even look at one side of the ledger?” He added, “they can’t possibly be allowed to approve this thing when they refuse to answer some basic questions about the corporate structure.”
- Riley explained that he is using the rate case hearings as a way to get utility companies to address the discrepancies between what they say to the PSC when requesting a rate increase and what they say to investors about profits at business meetings.
- “The utility monopolies don’t want to talk about it, so we’ve been using these rate cases as an opportunity to either force them to talk about it, or at least show that they refuse to talk about it,” Riley said.
- Riley told the Ithaca Times that his investigation has found that “about $80 million per year is being siphoned out of the community and into the profits and earnings of Central Hudson’s foreign parent corporation.” He added, “about 6% of the corporation’s profits and earnings are being driven by the rates that folks are paying in upstate New York.”
- In a post hearing statement submitted to the PSC following the cross examination, Riley said, “The record is clear: my constituents’ utility bills go up, Fortis reports massive profits as a result, and Central Hudson puts its head in the sand. My constituents deserve better, and the law requires more.”
- Riley said that he is continuing to find the places in Public Utility Law that give legal backing to the concerns that he is hearing from his constituents, adding that he has found many areas where the law is “outdated and broken” and needs to be fixed.
- “American utility companies should be owned by Americans,” Riley said. “They don’t care about anybody’s pocketbooks around here. They care about their profits, and when it comes to something that’s a necessity, like utilities, we shouldn’t allow that to be the case.”
- Riley’s entrance into the rate cases for NYSEG and Central Hudson is unprecedented, representing the first time that a United States Congressman has entered into litigation to stop a utility company from raising prices on their constituents.
- “We need to use every possible avenue to hold these folks accountable,” Riley said. “Part of my job is to introduce bills and co-sponsor legislation, but we need to be more aggressive and creative when it comes to making life more affordable for folks across upstate New York and we’re trying to be as creative and aggressive as we can.” He added, “We saw this as an opportunity to really use this office on behalf of the people I represent to hold these corporations accountable.”
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