Edited by: Fern Sidman
It appears that New York consumers are livid over the significant increases in cost that they pay to utility companies. As such, Long Island Rep. Tom Suozzi is boldly confronting Con Edison for its “unreasonable” plans to hike utility bills for its 3.5 million customers in the New York metropolitan area by as much as 19% next year, as was reported by the New York Post.
In a letter penned on February 8th to Timothy Cawley, the Chairman, President & CEO of Con Edison, Rep Suozzi said: “New Yorkers already have some of the most expensive electric and gas bills in the nation. In November, ConEd projected that New Yorkers would pay $66 more a month, a 24% increase to $341 a month, between November 2021 to March 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported in November that New York area households’ electric bills were 47.8% higher, compared to the national average, and ranged between 44.8% and 48.1% more over the past five years. New Yorkers also paid 14% more for natural gas in November and between 12.6% to 20.2% more over the previous five years. Asking my constituents to swallow a dramatic single year increase to their electric and gas bill is unreasonable when they already pay nearly 50% more than the average US household.”
Last week, Con Ed said that it would submit its investment plan for 2023 to the New York State Public Service Commission, as was reported by the New York Post.
The company says that the hikes are necessary in order to fund “investments in clean energy, as well as infrastructure upgrades that will help keep customers in service during severe weather.”
In a statement sent to the Jewish Voice, Suozzi said: “We must balance our environmental zeal, which I share, with the real life practical impact on ratepayers. NY cannot continue to increase the burden on residents while Washington ignores the need to invest in climate issues.”
Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive told the Post: “I’m a big environmentalist. But if New York continues to go on its own without the help of federal policy, we’re going to see increasing rates like this and that’s going to chase people out of the state and they’re going to pollute somewhere else.”
He also told the Post that there needed to be a “balance” between addressing environmental issues in a way that wouldn’t “crush” rate-payers.
As a centrist Democrat, Suozzi serves on the House Ways and Means Committee. He also told ConEd in his letter that: “recent increases and corporate profits aside, now is a terrible time to ask hard working New Yorkers to pay more for necessities. In 2021, US inflation hit a 39 year high of 7% and the December 2021 increase was the largest same month-to-month increase in a year since 1981. According to the Labor Department, energy prices have already been a key driver of inflation.”
He also said that ConEd “reports annual profits of $1 billion plus following previous rate increases.”
ConEd, which supplies electricity, natural gas, and steam to 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, will ask customers to pay more so that it could use an additional $1.2 billion in revenue to upgrade its electric delivery system and $500 million more to improve its gas distribution, as was reported by the Post.
ConEd says it plans to invest in renewable energy, including electric vehicles and clean heat that will reduce its carbon footprint by 2.4 million metric tons over the next three years.
