Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger has called on the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) to take action and move forward with the prudence review and penalty measures before issuing an Order on the current rate case. A letter penned by the County Executive was filed with the Department of Public Service and included a long list of Federal, State, County, and local elected officials including Congressman Pat Ryan (D-18), State Senator Michelle Hinchey (D-41), Town of Lloyd Supervisor David Plavchak, and Town of Marlborough Supervisor Scott Corcoran.

“While important steps have been taken by the Commission following DPS’s December 2022 Investigation Report of the Fortis/Central Hudson billing fiasco, including ending the utility’s use of estimated billing and installing an Independent Monitor to verify the correction of billing errors, Fortis/Central Hudson has yet to be held to account for management’s reckless actions,” said Metzger. “A prudence review and civil penalty assessment should be undertaken now, before the PSC approves a new rate plan, to justly compensate customers and give us the confidence that management failures of this magnitude will not be tolerated and will not be repeated in the future.”

“From day one I’ve been fighting to hold Central Hudson accountable,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “It’s outrageous that Central Hudson is seeking to raise rates without facing real consequences for its failures. I’m proud to join with County Executive Jen Metzger in calling for a prudence review and civil penalty assessment – strong steps in holding Central Hudson responsible for the egregious mismanagement that resulted in the harm of countless Hudson Valley families. I will keep pushing to ensure that every Central Hudson customer that was wronged is made whole before any rate increase is even considered.”

“Hudson Valley residents are still calling my office today for help dealing with the fallout from Central Hudson’s billing mistakes and bad business decisions,” said State Senator Michelle Hinchey. “Central Hudson made a mess with its billing system, and they — and they alone — should be responsible for cleaning up that mess.”