NEWBURGH – State Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh) Friday blasted Central Hudson’s response to last month’s scathing Public Service Commission report.
“Central Hudson’s response to the Public Service Commission report would be laughable if its actions had not hurt so many of its customers,” the lawmaker said.
“Central Hudson claims it did not overcharge, but its response clearly states that overcharges were made and corrected. What it fails to mention is that these corrections were made after the overcharges were noticed and reported by customers.”
As a result of the debacle, Jacobson has introduced legislation that would strictly limit the use of estimated bill and would prohibit backbilling after two months.
He said while Central Hudson “claims its new billing software was adequately tested before it was launched, but adequate testing would have caught the system’s multiple failures before customers were impacted. And nowhere in its vast 92-page excuse does Central Hudson provide a reasonable explanation for its overuse of estimated billing.”
He said the utility “has flagrantly ignored the law and rules it is supposed to follow.”
“The Public Service Commission should be allowed to impose the strictest penalties allowed for Central Hudson’s incompetent and illegal billing practices,” Jacobson concluded.
