See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joanna DelBuono
Brooklyn Daily
Last year in October, before the long, cold winter set in, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, “New Yorkers need to get more value for the price they pay for utility service.” Way to go Andrew.
In December the governor announced that an agreement was reached with the mega-watt utility company and that rate prices would remain stable for two to three years. Again I say, “Way to go Andrew.”
In fact, according to the settlement, “Residential customers will receive a two-year electric delivery rate freeze and a three-year gas distribution rate freeze starting Jan. 1, 2014.”
You would think that consumers, namely you and me, had finally caught a break. Well, think again.
Last week when I received my end of year level billing payment plan statement from Con Edison. I was more than just a bit shocked, I was electrocuted. Pun intended.
My bill was way up there and I owed them a whopping $600 bucks over the $2,500 that had already been paid. And that was before air-conditining and pool season set in. My mind screamed “What?” We didn’t use more. According to the chart we used the same amount. Again — “What?”
What happened to “No new rates” governor? Where is this freeze he speaks of? Apparently the only freeze going on was me freezing my tuchas off in the long, cold winter.
Last February the New York Post addressed the “Mid-winter power price spike,” and explained why Con Edison customers saw a jump from anywhere between 17 and 22 percent in our bills.
The Post explained rates were higher because the cost of natural gas was higher, which powered the generators that provided the supply to our homes, so it increased the rates that Con Edison was allowed to charge us.
Confused? Me too. What exactly does “No new rate increase” mean if Con Edison is allowed to charge us rates based on fluctuating factors.
Why do we have to pay for Con-Edison’s gas bill when we are paying through the nose for our own electric rates?
I would think that the operating cost of any company should be the cost of the company, not the cost of the consumer. Those costs are already factored into the rates that are charged. No?
Apparently not. Shocking don’t you think?
On top of the whopping 600 more bucks that is due to the company, my level billing plan also went up by $80 dollars more a month, which means that Con Edison added another $900 per year onto my already exorbitant bill for the same service as it did before the governor said, “No new rate increases.”
Not for Nuthin™, but wouldn’t it nice if no-new rate increases, really meant, “No new rate increases.” Now that’s a settlement I can plug into.
Follow me on Twitter @JDelBuono.