ALBANY – The State Public Services Commission, Thursday, issued a 62-page report, documenting the poor launch of Central Hudson’s $88-million billing system that resulted in customers receiving exorbitantly high estimated bills.
Among the agency’s findings, the report found the utility company in violation of Public Service Law due to improper billing practices.
Among those who blew the whistle on Central Hudson’s poor billing rollout was Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh).
“It shows how inept Central Hudson was that they launched a flawed billing system that put the burden on solving the system’s errors on poorly trained customer service representatives while publicly minimizing the true scope of the problem,” he said.
Senator James Skoufis (D, Cornwall) said, “For too long, we’ve seen the state regulators give our utilities a pass. Now Central Hudson will finally have to answer for the outrageous billing errors that have left homeowners ands renters confused, angry, and desperate.”
He said the PSC’s decision “is the result of consistent pressure from ratepayers and advocates.”
Senator Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) said, “After months of investigation, today, the PSC rightfully found Central Hudson guilty of numerous violations that have directly caused economic harm to its customers.”
Central Hudson President Charles Freni, Jr. issued an apology for the massive problem.
“Over the last several months, Central Hudson has fully cooperated with our regulators at the Public Service Commission as they investigated our implementation of a new customer information system. Technical challenges associated with the implementation of this system have caused undue stress and confusion to some of you. For that, I am deeply apologetic.”
He said as part of the regulatory process, Central Hudson is provided the opportunity to respond to the PSC’s findings through an order to show cause. “We will continue to be open and transparent with our regulators as we move through this process.”
He said the utility “will continue to dedicate significant resources toward resolving any lingering issues with the billing system. We will always be committed to finding ways to improve the customer experience.”
