By Nathan Duke
Western Queens elected officials said they were outraged after Con Edison proposed two new rate increase plans last week that could raise customer bills by as much as $8 per month following the state Public Service Commission’s recent decision to approve a one−year hike on electric bills.
The utility’s first proposal would raise rates by $695 million annually for three years, increasing bills for residential customers by as much as 7.8 percent, or $6.48, and for businesses by as much as 4.8 percent, or $751.
Con Ed’s alternative plan would raise the total first−year rates by $854 million with projected increases of $462 million and $391 million during the following two years. Under this proposal, residential customers could pay as much as 9.6 percent, or $8 per month, more in fees and businesses might have to fork over as much as 6 percent, or $942, more.
Queens elected officials said borough residents are already struggling to pay bills under Con Ed’s previous rate increases. They also cited an April gas leak explosion in Floral Park which killed 40−year−old mother of three Ghanwattie Boodram as evidence that any proposed rate increase by the utility should not be approved by the PSC.
“Just last month Con Ed was handed over $700 million in rate hikes and already it has its hand out again,” state Assemblyman Michael Gianaris (D−Astoria) said. “Con Ed fiddles while homes explode and blackouts and electrocutions become routine. This unaccountable monopoly does not deserve one cent in additional rate hikes until it reforms its practices and changes the way it does business.”
Con Ed’s proposal, which was filed May 8, kicks off a year−long process at the end of which the PSC will decide whether to allow the hike.
In late April, the commission approved a $523 million increase, which included a one−year hike on electrical delivery rates and a $198 million state−mandated surcharge that will go toward filling the state’s budget gap and pay for the PSC’s operational costs.
A Con Ed spokesman said the rate increase would go toward real property taxes, additions to utility plants, increases in pensions and a return on equity.
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D−Astoria) said the utility should be forced to do more with less.
“The PSC should force Con Ed to lower its rates due to the falling price of gasoline and make this greedy monopoly use the profits it receives from its current rates, which are already the highest in the country, to make improvements.”
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
