The first step in correcting a problem is admitting to the problem. Central Hudson has been under fire from customers and elected officials for well over a year, but a slew of complaints continue pouring in.
Earlier this year, an alarming rash of complaints finally came to a head when elected officials from both sides of the political aisles began calling on Central Hudson and government officials to take swift action to resolve their billing problems. With all the divisiveness in politics, it took Central Hudson to bring together Democrats and Republicans for the common cause of saying enough is enough.
Central Hudson has a multitude of complaints haunting their business. This is not to bring discredit to the fine, hard-working men and women who are out working in the field every day, sometimes in harsh weather conditions or in the middle of the night, to ensure electricity and gas service remains uninterrupted for their customers. This is a matter of a failing administration.
Among the issues are billing errors, Central Hudson failing to read meters which results in “estimated” bills, and astronomically high delivery surcharges for gas and electric. Many customers have reported being charged thousands of dollars in utilities that they claim they never used. Customers are up in arms over Central Hudson’s “delivery” charges, in which the monopoly often charges double or triple the actual usage because they “delivered” gas and electric to homes and businesses that are connected to the existing grid.
Just a few years ago, Central Hudson sent meter readers around every month to read meters and accurately bill their customers. Meter readings have now become sporadic. Instead, Central Hudson sends threatening messages to its customers warning that if the customers fail to provide a meter reading service for free, Central Hudson will guess their bills. Of course, these “estimated” bills are often inaccurate and sometimes significantly higher than what customers actually used.
To this day, countless complaints continue pouring in from customers and politicians. The Better Business Bureau is being inundated with complaints. Central Hudson’s social media pages are overflowing with angry customers warning them to fix their problems. State government officials are continuing their investigations into Central Hudson.
Top officials from Central Hudson recently conducted an interactive social media livestream with the public to “address” the problems. Instead of addressing the problems, they dodged questions from politicians asking how they would rectify the problems. The livestream was mostly consisted of arrogantly implying that customers are not smart enough to understand why their bills are so ridiculously high.
Central Hudson has done nearly nothing to resolve the problems. Some customers have alleged that they cannot even reach a live person at the monopoly to complain to. When customers do reach a person, many customers have reported that their phone calls have resulted in rudeness and refusals to rectify the problems.
Central Hudson has launched a public campaign to mitigate these complaints. Unfortunately, instead of addressing the complaints, administrators have lashed out at those who are accusing them of wrongdoing. They are blaming elected officials of having political agendas for representing the thousands of constituents who have reached out for help. They ran television commercials offering to let customers payment plans instead of simply addressing the billing problems. They blamed inflation, the rising costs of utilities, and every other straw they could grasp.
The customers and elected officials have spoken loud and clear: The public demands changes. It is time for Central Hudson to listen and begin making immediate changes. They are spending more time and efforts in defending themselves from the countless complaints than what it would take to rectify the problems. When this many people are so outraged, there is obviously a problem.
We are reminded of an unemployed, homeless man who was once the New York State governor. He too pointed fingers and blamed everyone else whenever he came under attack. This tyrannical attitude ultimately led to the egomaniac falling from his high horse. If Central Hudson wants to take this route, the next step might be for officials to determine how to replace them.
