Group says Central Hudson’s fixed rate is too high

KINGSTON, N.Y. » The watchdog group Citizens for Local Power presented the state Public Service Commission with a petition on Tuesday seeking to force a reduction of Central Hudson’s monthly fixed rate for electricity from $24 to $10.

“Central Hudson’s [fixed rate] is the highest in the state,” the group cofounder, Jennifer Metzger, said during an afternoon press conference at Kingston City Hall.

The fixed rate is the amount a utility charges customers to cover its cost of doing business and is separate from the usage rates that customers pay.

Central Hudson has asked the Public Service Commission to increase the monthly fixed rate for electricity to $25 per month. That request is pending.

Citizens for Local Power members said Orange & Rockland Utilities charges a $20 monthly fixed rate fro electricity, National Grid charges $17, Consolidated Edison charges $15.76, and NYSEG/Rockland Gas & Electric charges $15.11. Members of the group said fixed rates in neighboring are $3 to $6 per month.

New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers said at Tuesday’s event that the state Public Service Commission needs to recognize that a steep fixed rate is a disincentive for customers to conserve electricity.

“In the village of New Paltz, we charge water and sewer users higher rates the more they consume, and the idea behind that is you’re trying to encourage conservation,” he said. “This type of structure [used by Central Hudson] flies in the face of that. When fixed costs are higher, you really lose the incentive to be more conservative.”

Central Hudson John Maserjian responded the utility’s fixed-rate cost for electricity actually is about $50 per month per customer.

“The fixed portion of our utility bill covers about half of that, with the rest of those fixed charges recovered through ... energy usage, through per-kilowatt-hour charges for the delivery of electricity,” he said. “To lower the fixed charges would increase the ... delivery charges by some amount.

“That would have to be calculated, but more importantly, that doesn’t reflect the true cost of service,” Maserjian said. “It would be moving away from rates based on the cost to provide utility services.”