NYSEG electric bills will jump by $10 a month in November under new rate plan - Buffalo News

NYSEG electric bills will jump by $10 a month in Novembe

New York State Electric & Gas customers will pay an extra $10 next month, as part of a three-year rate agreement approved by the state Public Service Commission that will increase an average customer’s monthly bill by around 31% over the next three years.

The Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve the increase.

“I do not take this vote lightly as the vote increases are larger than any of us would like to see,” said Diane Burman, commissioner of the Public Service Commission.

The average NYSEG residential customer using 600kw now pays $96 a month. That will rise by about $10, or 10.3% to $106 in November.

In May 2024, it will go up another $9, or 8.4% to $115.

National Fuel Gas Co. said Wednesday it expects the average residential customer to pay about 30% less this winter to heat their homes.

In May 2025, it will go up by an additional $11 or 9.9% to $126.

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The total bill estimates include both parts of what goes into a customer’s monthly bill: the cost of delivering the electricity to their homes, which is what is covered by the rates approved Thursday by the PSC, as well as the estimated cost of the electricity itself, which is passed on to NYSEG customers at cost. The average bills are based on a residential customer using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month.

“I do understand the frustration of many people that are customers and residents of the service area,” said Commissioner James Alesi.

NYSEG argued that it needed the rate increase to modernize and upgrade the aging network of power lines and natural gas pipelines across portions of upstate New York. The additional revenue also will be used to improve customer service, cybersecurity, clean energy initiatives and tree management.

“From the new revenues provided in this rate plan, we can expect better reliability, along with reduced future deferrals for recovery expenses from major storms,” said Dukim Lecakes, the PSC’s chief administrative law judge, in recommending the increase.

Necessary price increases were put off during the Covid pandemic, commissioners said.

“At that time, there was recognition, a bill would be coming due,” said Rory Christian, the PSC’s chairman.

The increases will be retroactive to May 1.

The rate increase is much less than NYSEG initially sought. The company in June 2022 filed for a 22% increase in its delivery rates over one year. After negotiations with interested parties and the PSC staff, those groups in June recommended a 22% jump in delivery rates over a three-year period.

“The utilities came in with a one-year proposal and the rate increase approved today stretches that proposal over approximately two and a half years,” said Beth Finkel, AARP’s New York State director. “The PSC should have rejected one of the largest rate increases in recent memory.”

The rate hike comes at a time when tens of thousands of residential customers are already having trouble paying their energy bills, and more than 41,000 of them are facing service termination notices, according to numbers from AARP New York.

The hikes are part of a broader rate agreement that included increases for natural gas and electric customers with NYSEG and its sister company, Rochester Gas and Electric. Both utilities are subsidiaries of Avangrid.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who had called the original rate request from the company outrageous, said she was pleased with the reduction in the final agreement. “I’m pleased to see the PSC was able to cut the companies’ initial proposal by 50%, but I recognize the final electric rates are still likely to strain household budgets across New York,” she said in a statement.