Hudson Valley Hearings To Cover Proposed Central Hudson Rate Hikes

You will have three opportunities to let your opinion be heard regarding the proposed Central Hudson rate hikes. Hearings on the matter have been set for Poughkeepsie, Middletown and Kingston in early October.

The Daily Freeman reports a delivery charge increase of just over 13% for electricity and 18% for natural gas. A spokesman for Central Hudson states the increased rates will be offset by money they have left over from projects that ended up not being as expensive as projected. As a result, overall bill expense is expected to rise approx 3.7% for electric and 4.7% for natural gas.

The new revenue will go to upgrade aging infrastructure and other improvements. This is of course, little comfort to those already struggling with their bills.

Due to the expected high turnout, there will be two sessions at each location at 2 and 6 PM. Written comments can be sent to www.dps.ny.gov and public comments will be taken up until October 20th at which point a final decision will be made.

• 10/3 - Poughkeepsie Town Hall
• 10/10 - Kingston City Hall
• 10/16 - Newburgh Town Hall