New York’s Public Service Commission voted unanimously today/Thursday to approve rate hikes for National Grid.
Residential electricity customers using an average of 625 kilowatt-hours per month can expect to see an increase of $14.32 each month in the first year, $6.44 in the second year and $4.34 in year three for National Grid customers. Gas customers using an average of 78 therms per month will see an increase of roughly $7.66 a month in the first year, $8.08 in the second, and $9.18 in the third.
Retired Public Employees Association executive director Tom Tatun says the hike will be a burden for many of the 500,000 New Yorkers RPEA serves.
"The 22 to $50 a month increase that's been estimated as a result of these rate increases that has a pretty dramatic and outsized impact on our membership. So we're really disappointed that more protections weren't put in place for at risk populations such as our members," said Tatun.
About 225,000 New Yorkers are 60 days behind on their National Grid bills, according to AARP New York's legislative director Bill Ferris.
"We are going to encourage our members to continue to contact the elected officials, continue to contact the governor's office and request that these writing increases don't keep going through here in upstate New York and as well as downstate. In the National Grid service area just in the month of June, National Grid terminated on average 384 households a day from service. We just don't think it's the right time for national grid to raise people’s gas and electric service as much as 36 %," Ferris said.
New York’s Senate Republicans and Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul denounced the rate hikes, saying the increases make basic necessities unaffordable to many residents. National Grid's Patrick Stella says while affordability is important, the rate hikes are necessary to ensure reliable service.
"That is certainly the top concern that we have received over the last year from customers and others alike, affordability, and we did reduce the ask of our original ask, and we did take it into consideration. We've also added some funding for our assistance programs to customers, and maybe having trouble paying the bills and we added a couple of consumer advocates to our upstate employees and those are advocates that work one-on-one with customers to help them find support services," Stella said.
National Grid says its three-year electricity and natural gas delivery rate plan would enhance affordability programs and advance the state’s renewable energy and emissions reductions goals. The plan replaces the company’s May 2024 rate request, which sought to increase electric delivery rates by 15 percent for residential electric customers and 20 percent for gas customers.
