POUGHKEEPSIE — The Public
Service Commission visited Poughkeepsie Thursday as part of a series of
public hearings across four cities for feedback on proposed changes for
assistance to low-income utility customers. This is part of utility companies
across the state becoming deregulated with Central Hudson, in this case,
being the most discussed at the Poughkeepsie hearing.
PSC spokesman James Denn said many people are losing their electric and
heat for delinquency of payments.
“One of the big concerns that the commission has is the increase in
the number of people who are having their electricity disconnected for failure
to pay bills,” he said. “That’s not a good thing and we
want to fully explore and understand why that happens and what is the best
way to prevent that from happening in the future.”
Many members of the public who attended the meeting shared stories of Central
Hudson shutting their power off in the middle of winter. All of these people
were low- income, some elderly and many with children. In some cases, these
people said they had tried to negotiate a payment plan with their providers,
in most cases Central Hudson, but to no avail.
Shantal Thompson, a young mother and member of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson,
claims she had her power shut off in the winter due to once living under
the roof of a delinquent client whose bill she was not responsible. She
and other members of Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson are asking for changes to
be made so that they and their children do not have to fear having the heat,
or electric, turned off if money were to become tight.
“They do not have a secure foundation of a discount program for people
with low income that is concrete and for every low income person,”
said Thompson. “The eligibility is not on point at all and also I
feel like the benefits need to be raised from $200 million to $800 million
to go across New York State with.”
On September 16, Joel Tyner, Rob Weiss April Marie Farley and other Dutchess
County legislators submitted a letter to the Public Service Commission asking
for just that. In addition, they asked for no shutoffs between the months
of November to April, low income utility benefits to go directly to those
receiving public assistance and for DPS staff proposals to set discount
amounts so average recipients pay no more than six percent of their income
for energy.
The PSC will continue to take written public comments throughout the month,
but Denn said there is no projection as to when actual changes will be solidified.
