Some New Yorkers are urging the state Public Service Commission to say no to National Grid’s latest rate hike request.
Following three in-person hearings, the PSC allowed rate-payers to testify about the utilities' proposed increase in a virtual public hearing on Wednesday. The utility is asking for monthly increases that would average 15%, or $18.92, for electric customers, and 20%, or $18.34 for gas.
National Grid customer Peggy Mousaw said it amounts to another form of inflation that residents and businesses can’t afford,
"Every rate increase to a utility company is another form of inflation,” Mousaw said. “Like fuel, everything is driven by utility rates. An additional increase, especially of this size, would drive more property owners in New York state to lose their homes and go into foreclosure, and small business owners to the point of termination or bankruptcy. That is not a sustainable plan for New York state."
She said it also would line the pockets of the British multinational company.
“And to take an international company like National Grid and try to bury a rate increase out to us because of the fact that they want one, when they're an international company with some of the largest profits sharing or shareholder dividends going out, I think is unconscionable,” she said.
Others at the hearing criticized continued plans to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure. National Grid says the rate increase will ensure investments that keep the gas and electric service reliable, as well as help clear the way for a transition to clean energy.
If the Public Service Commission agrees to the increase, rate hikes will go into effect next spring.
