POUGHKEEPSIE – Central Hudson Gas & Electric is warning that regional and global market forces are causing electricity and natural gas prices to increase in April. The utility company made the announcement on Monday.
Central Hudson’s residential price for electric supply has risen slightly from 11.6 cents in March to 13.6 cents, effective April 11. As previously announced, natural gas prices rose from 91.6 cents per hundred-cubic-feet (ccf) in March to 97.1 cents per ccf in April, effective April 1. Supply prices stated on bills and overall bill impacts will vary for individual customers depending on their billing cycle and energy usage.
Central Hudson purchases electricity and natural gas on behalf of full-service customers on the energy market and does not mark up the price of energy supply. The announcement said higher prices are attributed to a recovering economy, energy supply constraints, strong energy demands, and global events.
The electric and gas provider has been under scrutiny from customers and state lawmakers over the past few months due to a glitch in the company’s new billing system. Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan had urged the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) to investigate and the commission has honored the request. The story can be found here. When the investigation was opened, the PSC received more than 1,000 complaints in 48 hours.
