Individuals from throughout the community gathered Thursday, Oct. 16 at the SUNY Oneonta Morris Conference Center to speak out against proposed NYSEG rate hikes, which are pending approval from the state Public Service Commission.
The meeting saw people from across political parties attend opposing the increases. U.S. Rep. Josh Riley, NY-19 and state Sen. Peter Oberacker, R-Schenevus who is entering the race for New York’s 19th district, both spoke at the hearing.
Tara Kersey, an administrative law judge with the state Department of Public Service, said she was there to overhear concerns regarding a proposal of the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation and the Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation to “increase their annual electric and gas delivery revenues for the 12 month period ending April 30, 2027.”
She said NYSEG proposes an increase of its electric delivery revenues by about $464.4 million and its natural gas delivery revenues by about $93 million. She said the proposed changes would impact customers differently depending on revenue allocation and rate design.
The public hearing, Kersey said, additionally was to hear concerns about NYSEG’s proposal to close three different walk-in offices, including 65 County Club Road in Oneonta.
There are other ways for people to comment outside of attending a public hearing, Kersey said, like through the department’s website or by regular mail or telephone.
Oberacker said a rate increase would “make the cost of living unsustainable” for many people living within his senate district. He said that during the past months, his office collected more than 570 utility complaints and 486 residents gave permission to work their cases directly with NYSEG. The average reported NYSEG bill was $582, adding up to $6,984 a year.
He added that he was in the process of introducing a “series of legislation” to make up a Utility Ratepayers Bill of Rights. He said the proposal includes mandatory public hearings, transparency in regards to billing formulas and penalties for overbilling, among others.
“Bottom line, New Yorkers deserve answers, transparency and relief,” Oberacker said. “They don’t need excuses.”
Kristen Shearer, Milford Central School District superintendent, said last year the school spent more than $70,000 on energy bills, $10,000 more than the year prior. She said raising costs would directly impact its programs, classes, students and families. Unlike other businesses, she added, schools can not pass on the costs and must absorb them.
She implored the commission to consider the impact that the rate hikes could have on local schools and communities.
Will Rivera, who is running for Oneonta town supervisor, said that in Otsego County, more than 13% of residents live below the poverty line and more than one in five children grow up living in poverty. He said working people cannot continue to be made to “carry the weight of corporate profit” and called for transparency and accountability.
Another speaker, Sidney resident Janice Vitek, said that she, like many others at the hearing, are retired and living on a fixed income. She said she has a friend whose son and his wife are living in a mobile home and received a $600 bill. They are now heating the home with a gas generator, Vitek said.
In Sidney, she said there are many unhoused people, and she does not want to see anybody else needing to sleep in the woods and come to a Salvation Army truck to get a sandwich every Friday.
“This is America,” Vitek said. “This is just not right. This is not what we signed up for and fought for.”
Jennifer Rigg, from Oneonta, said she was at the hearing to speak on behalf of herself and the Civil Service Employee Association Local 635, the union representing about 240 workers on the SUNY Oneonta campus.
Rigg said she is a 21-year state employee and her husband also is a state employee. As of five to six years ago, she added, they were able to pay all of their bills, taking care of their kids school and sport needs while putting money away to save.
Now, Rigg said, she lives paycheck to paycheck and her husband just took on a second job, now working 70 hours a week.
“When I’m paying more for my groceries to feed my family than for my mortgage, there is a problem,” Rigg said.
A NYSEG spokesperson said while it is required to file a one-year rate case, its “goal is to extend the timeline to help ease the transition for our customers.”
“The rate case process is an intensive, transparent 11-month process that will include negotiations with multiple stakeholders and opportunities for public comment,” they said. “The proposed numbers and percents are all subject to change.”
Riley said NYSEG’s last quarterly report stated that in the first six months of this year, NYSEG brought in $125 million in profits. While it is telling the public it needs more money from ratepayers, it is telling investors it is making $20 million in profits per month, Riley said.
He shared several stories from constituents that he heard from and could not attend the hearing in person. Riley said a public school teacher is facing homelessness this winter and a registered nurse told him they had a patient who used a hair dryer to warm his feet because he could not afford to heat his home, receiving third degree burns.
“The whole thing is rigged against folks in this room, and I am trying to take on the political establishment and take on the status quo to change things,” Riley said after the meeting.