NYSEG customers bring questions, concerns over recent bills to 'community connection' event
NYSEG customers are looking for answers on why some of their bills have recently gone up.
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NYSEG customers are looking for answers on why some of their bills have recently gone up.
"It's horrible, it's really horrible," says NYSEG customer Dennis Frasene.
Some customers in the Hudson Valley are frustrated.
"It's not what I want to hear, I live off my Social Security so it's an issue," says Vicki Velger, who lives in Yorktown Heights.
Velger says in the winter, her utility bill is usually around $300 a month.
However, this year she says she got a bill of about $1,200.
She's not alone.
"It has been brutal on our constituents. You have people who are trying to decide, do I heat my house or do I not get my medicine?" says Town of Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman.
That's why customers gathered Wednesday at Yorktown Town Hall. It was a community connection event with NYSEG.
Customers asked why some of their bills have increased.
It's due to a much colder winter and the supply price, according to officials with NYSEG.
"Those supply prices have been higher for our customers, we have to buy on the open market for that supply unless you are a regular rate customer, in which case we can hedge the price," says the president and CEO of NYSEG and RG&E, Patricia Nilsen.
Officials with NYSEG say the supply cost is a pass-through cost set by energy generators and suppliers that NYSEG must collect but has no control over. Adding, they do not profit from supply charges.
Customers tell News 12 they are trying to figure out what to do next.
"Making sure they are on the right rate is the first, the other is we have a budget billing program which spreads your energy use and bills out into an even amount all year," says Nilsen.
These discussions are all part of bigger push for transparency from some lawmakers.
"I've introduced legislation that would require utility companies to notify rate payers when the supply costs go to a certain level," Assemblyman Matt Slater explains.
Another community connection event will be happening Thursday in Carmel.
You can find the details here: https://www.nyseg.com/w/nyseg-announcing-community-connection-events-in-westchester-and-putnam-county-this-week
