NYSEG says it wants to raise our
electric rates by 18.6 percent.
Here’s what the state Public
Service Commission ought to say in
response: Fergeddaboudit!
Local business owners and other
residents have to ask themselves
when was the last time they got an
18.6 percent raise in their salaries.
With those of us in upstate New
York already struggling with some
of the highest electrical rates in
the country, the last thing we need
is another punch to our financial
solar plexus.
New York State Electric & Gas
Corp., a subsidiary of Energy East
(itself a subsidiary of the Spanish
energy giant, Iberdrola), petitioned
the state Public Service Commission
on Sept. 17 to raise electric
rates 18.6 percent and natural gas
rates 17.4 percent.
We can only hope that those
ridiculous numbers constitute
just an absurd attempt to obtain
a single-digit increase when all is
said and done.
The Public Service Commission
should have plenty to say before
anything is done to raise our rates.
The opportunity for this will be
when it gets around to its not-yet scheduled
evidentiary hearings to
take testimony on whether the rate
hike is warranted.
``While our electricity service
rates have declined and our natural
gas rates have remained essentially
flat since 1996, the expenses necessary
to provide safe and reliable service
to our customers have climbed
year after year,” said Michael Conroy,
senior vice president and chief
operating officer of NYSEG.
Give us a break.
We really mean it. Give us a
break from that kind of nonsense.
In case Mr. Conroy hasn’t noticed,
a ton of people around here can’t
make ends meet at it is.
Even folks who make a decent
salary are huddling under blankets
and wearing layers of clothing
inside their homes because they
can’t afford to turn up the heat.
Small businesses are fighting
to survive as the economy slowly
emerges from a debilitating recession.
And NYSEG wants to raise our
utility bills by almost a fifth of the
high price we’re paying now.
Sen. James Seward, R-Milford,
noting that a bill in the state Legislature
includes a tax increase on electricity,
said he hopes the PSC will
look closely at NYSEG’s request.
James Powers, chairman of the
Otsego County Board of Representatives,
said: ``It would be one thing
if NYSEG got a rate hike and businesses
could pass it on, but that
won’t work here. We have farmers,
workers, people on fixed incomes
who can’t pay more.’’
We urge our readers to contact
the PSC and make their feelings
known about this obscene attempt
by NYSEG to gouge its customers.
