New York’s Public Service Commission (PSC) will hold its final two public hearings about a NYSEG rate hike request via Zoom on Tuesday. The increase request is for over $464.4 million. For customers that would equal an increase of almost 40% on gas and up to 35% on electric services.
The utility is also proposing the closure of several walk-in offices, including in Ithaca and Oneonta.
The PSC holds public hearings and accepts public comments online, by phone, and by mail before making a decision.
Customers have been vocal about their opposition to the proposed rate hike. Most who spoke at the hearings in Binghamton and Ithaca earlier this month complained about unusually high bills, inconsistent billing, poor customer service, and the utility’s new meters.
In Ithaca, 72-year-old retired teacher Eileen Bach described some of her problems with the energy provider. She said she lives in a rural area near Ithaca.
“I have been without power a minimum of 18 times in the last calendar year,” Bach said. “And as an elderly person living alone in the rural countryside, when I am without power, I am without heat, I am without water because the pump doesn’t work [without] electricity, no hot food. I've rented rooms in my home on Airbnb, but I've had to cancel, costing me income.”
Not all the speakers were residential customers. Ithaca Mayor Robert Cantelmo urged the Public Service Commission to reject the rate hike, investigate NYSEG’s spending and hold its foreign owners to account.
NYSEG is owned by Avangrid, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iberdrola, S.A., a Spanish company.
Cantelmo said if a city agency produced results like NYSEG he would call for a full accounting of its spending and would certainly not consider increasing its funding.
“Local governments are stretching every dollar to keep basic services running. Meanwhile, NYSEG, a state-granted monopoly, is asking ordinary people to finance its own management failures,” Cantelmo told the commissioners at the Ithaca hearing. “I am urging the commission to reject this rate increase as proposed, require measurable service improvements before any future adjustments, mandate real community engagement, and ensure that all future investments prioritize affordability, transparency and accountability above all else.”
Representatives of IBEW Local 10 were the only ones to speak in favor of the rate increase in both Binghamton and Ithaca. They did express one reservation.
Roman Cefali is the business manager for the union local in Binghamton.
“I am concerned about the planned closure of key customer walk-in centers,” he said. “These offices are located at or near disadvantaged communities. We believe these offices offer an invaluable service, and they need to remain open.”
There will be two public hearings livestreamed at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Anyone can view them but must sign up here. Instructions for how to submit a comment are available at the same link.
If approved, the new rates would go into effect May 1, 2026.
The deadline to submit a comment online, by mail or phone is October 24.