Gov. Hochul calls on Con Edison to reassess energy cost surge

Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling on Con Edison to reassess its plan to increase gas and electric prices.

News 12 Staff

Feb 11, 2022, 8:10 PM

Updated 1,035 days ago

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Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling on Con Edison to reassess its plan to increase gas and electric prices.
Con Edison says that the spike is due to the cost of energy.
"The extreme utility bill increases we are seeing across the state come at a time when New Yorkers are already struggling financially following the COVID-19 pandemic," Hochul says. "Even though the spike we are seeing in electricity, natural gas and fuel prices were predicted and are due to severe winter weather, I am calling on Con Ed to review their billing practices because we must take unified action to provide relief for New Yorkers, especially our most vulnerable residents."
Gov. Hochul joins a number of elected officials who are calling on the company to make changes.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer is one of the lawmakers demanding action.
"We called them, too and we said 'Can you explain what happened?' They said, 'Oh, it got cold.' It gets cold every winter. Bills don’t go up 200%, you don’t live on the second floor, that’s unacceptable," said Sen. Mayer.
The governor also announced that efforts will be increased to encourage low-income New Yorkers to apply for millions of dollars in aid available.
Con Edison told News 12 in a statement, "Con Edison is taking action to address the increase in energy supply costs and its impact on our customers. We are reviewing all of our practices that affect customer supply costs, including our energy-buying practices, the tools we use to reduce supply price volatility, the way we communicate changes in supply prices, and our programs to help customers who have fallen behind on their bills."