Central Hudson got it all wrong again.
Early in 2022, several elected officials began speaking out against Central Hudson after being inundated with complaints from their constituents. Central Hudson pointed fingers at the politicians, raging that the elected officials caused the public uproar because they were trying collect votes for the upcoming election.
To the contrary, the November election has long passed and elected officials are still lashing out at the embattled gas and electric monopoly. In their latest rash of complaints, politicians are now speaking out about the New York State Public Service Commission’s (PSC) newly released report (story here) that suggested Central Hudson violated the law and bilked customers out of money for services they did not use. Central Hudson is now facing legal proceedings.
After the politicians began speaking out, Central Hudson issued a statement trying to defend themselves. This backfired as angry customers once again flooded Central Hudson’s social media accounts with complaints.
U.S. Congressman Pat Ryan called Central Hudson’s actions “borderline criminal” after the damning report was released. “Central Hudson massively screwed up, and they need to own it,” Ryan declared. “After nearly a year of denying and deflecting their gross incompetence, it’s time they make their customers whole.”
U.S. Congressman-elect Marc Molinaro, the outgoing Dutchess County Executive, was a bit more hopeful. “It is my hope and expectation that Central Hudson leadership will expeditiously resolve this matter and work to rebuild the community’s trust, and that of the dedicated and hardworking workers at Central Hudson, in the organization,” he stated.
New York State Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson offered a mouthful and called their new billing system an “. “As its customers have known all along, the new billing system Central Hudson implemented in late 2021 is an “unmitigated disaster.” Jacobson said Central Hudson owes its affected customers more than an apology. “It owes them financial compensation for months of uncertainty and frustrations,” he observed.
“Over the last year, my office has received a steady stream of calls and emails from constituents confused and upset about their Central Hudson bills,” Jacobson continued. “These ongoing problems range from months of no billing at all to exorbitantly high estimated bills that have no correlation to actual usage.”
Earlier this year, Jacobson introduced legislation limiting a utility company’s ability to issue estimated bills. “Now that this report is out, I look forward to protecting utility customers across New York by seeing it become law in the next legislative session.”
Jacobson also took aim at Central Hudson’s leadership. “The PSC report shows not only that Central Hudson knowingly launched a flawed billing system, but that its leadership put the burden of solving the system’s errors on poorly trained customer service representatives while publicly minimizing the true scope of the problem.”
New York State Senator James Skoufis applauded the formal proceedings that will begin. “This next phase could mean steep fines for Central Hudson and, potentially, money back in the pockets of overburdened customers,” Skoufis noted.
“For too long, we’ve seen the state’s regulators give our utilities a pass. Now, Central Hudson will finally have to answer for their outrageous billing errors that have left homeowners and renters confused, angry, and desperate,” Skoufis declared. “Consumer complaints – your complaints – to the PSC are clearly working!”
New York State Senator Michelle Hinchey stated that the PSC “rightfully found Central Hudson guilty of numerous violations that have directly caused economic harm to its customers.” The explained that the PSC determined that the estimated billing practices “are in breach of the state’s standards.”
Hinchey introduced a bill, which has been adopted, to ban estimated billing and to require monthly, accurate meter readings.
“It’s about time Central Hudson customers receive justice and answers for the hardships they’ve endured, and I’ll continue to fight to hold the company accountable for their negligent errors,” Hinchey declared.
Acting Ulster County Executive Johanna Contreras joined Hinchey in calling on the PSC to hold Central Hudson shareholders financially responsible for the company’s “damaging business practices” over the past two years.
“Our constituents deserve better,” Contreras said. “We continue to hear from customers who are desperately struggling under this burden of these bills.”
Central Hudson President & CEO Charles A. Freni, Jr. issued a statement to his “valued customers.” He patted his company on the back for “fully” cooperating with the PSC’s investigation and apologized for the “confusion” caused for his customers.
Freni then defended his company by reminding customers that Central Hudson is “provided the opportunity to respond to the PSC’s findings,” but vows to be “open and transparent” with regulators.
This response backfired, causing even more public uproar.
Retired New Windsor Town Clerk Deborah Green replied to Freni’s letter and reported that her heat has been set at 68 since October. Her November bill was $200 and her December bill soared to $800. “Try explaining that,” she exclaimed. Central Hudson arrogantly replied, “If you decide you want assistance, you know how to contact us.”
However, Central Hudson’s customer service reportedly does not provide the best results.
Customer Dina Ronsini explained that her latest bill was $675 above normal. She complained that she waited over one hour to speak with customer service. Then, the representative could not provide an answer and promised that somebody would call her back. After two weeks, Central Hudson still will not return her call. Central Hudson publicly responded to Ronsini’s public complaint and advised her to re-contact them.
Customer Lisa Ann Vos also rebutted Freni’s letter. She stated her bill was always $160 per month. All of a sudden, Central Hudson billed her for $1,167.55. “I’ve heard of people getting outrageous bills in the months prior,” she observed. “Never thought it would be happening to me!”
Customer Tay Carpino was fired up with Freni’s letter. “My bill was $1,700. Normally $200,” she said, noting that she is refusing to pay it.
Customer Kori Sellers was also angry after reading Freni’s letter. “You can come up with any excuse you want to, but no one’s bill should randomly be three times the amount it normally would be,” she fumed. “The fact that it’s still not fixed and still happening shows that the CEO of Central Hudson does not care about the problem and is going to continue to gaslight. Ya’ll should really be kicked out of the county.”
Despite the newly released PSC report, Central Hudson is continuing to engage in their “estimated” billing practices while issuing astronomically high bills.
The Newburgh News, LLC has called for the resignation of all top leaders at Central Hudson (editorial here).
If you have been victimized by Central Hudson, you can file a complaint with the PSC online here: https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/Comments/PublicComments.aspx?MatterCaseNo=22-00666
