Central Hudson customers don’t have to take it anymore

Dear Editor,

Central Hudson is working hard to become the Enron of utility companies. Their latest scam against customers is to “estimate” an artificially low usage when delivery costs are low, followed by the “actual” usage when delivery costs are high.

For example, I have a house meter for an apartment building where Central Hudson “estimated” my usage at 10 kilowatt hours, followed by an “actual” usage of 939 kilowatt hours. That’s an increase of 9,300 percent. The average usage for this meter has been 551 kilowatt hours per month. Being good at math, I can tell you that Central Hudson’s readings are statistically impossible.

Also, I’ve never seen either 10 kilowatt hour or 939 kilowatt hour readings for this meter for the entire time that I’ve owned the building. Could Central Hudson know ahead what it’s delivery charges will be? That would be like knowing when a slot machine will come up with three cherries.

I doubt very much that Central Hudson is just targeting me. I suspect there are a lot of people who don’t have a clue what they’re up to.

Central Hudson’s slide to bankruptcy started more than a year ago when they “changed to a new system.” They’ve been using that excuse since. But we customers don’t need to take it anymore. Customers can call Central Hudson to complain about their particular problem. If Central Hudson doesn’t fix the problem, customers can file a complaint with the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC).

Finally, there’s always a lawsuit that customers can file. Central Hudson needs to start responding to customer’s needs and stop ignoring them.

Tim Charest West Hurley, N.Y.