New York State Assemblyman Michael Cashman says he would support New York’s governor declaring an energy crisis to control electric and utility prices.
The first bill that first-term Democrat introduced would restrict unreasonable utility rate and fee increases.
“We have to get it under control. We also need to get the Public Service Commission under control, hold guardrails, have accountability with auditing. And we also need the governor step forward to intervene because the costs are just too high.”
Cashman criticizes the utilities, noting they are making historically high profits while adding fees to ratepayers’ bills.
National Grid Spokesman Patrick Stella says utility bills are multi-faceted and a number of factors, including use, supply and delivery are affecting costs. He also notes that the region has not had a winter as cold for an extended period in several years.
“We want customers to be able to afford the energy that we’re delivering to them. So it’s a concern we share and we’re doing what we can to kind of control those prices at this point.”
