Plug pulled on electric rate hike

New York lawmakers were able to switch off a proposed energy rate hike, saving city and state residents up to $500 million in extra charges in each of the next three years.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state legislature had passed a bill guaranteeing property tax abatements to power generating companies, thereby eliminating the need for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed rate hike of up to 12 percent for this summer.
FERC had initially ruled that the absence of guaranteed tax abatements justified massive rate hikes by city power plant operators. Those rate hikes would have been passed on to the consumer by Con Edison, who passes the generators charges on to the consumer without markup and only stood to gain the public’s ire with any price increase. The FERC’s initial ruling and potential rate hike electrified city and state officials, who quickly went to work drafting legislation.
Elected officials argued that the rate hike was unjustified and financially crippling to New York residents whose power bills already rank among the nation’s highest.
Cuomo lauded the state legislature for their action and FERC for coming to the sensible conclusion of abandoning the rate hike.
“Our effort has saved New Yorkers from a needless rate hike that would have cost ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars,” said the governor. “I want to thank FERC for changing its decision and the legislature for their quick action on our legislation.”
Craig Cone, a spokesperson for FERC, said that in light of the new legislation, FERC will “direct the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) to revise the demand curve accordingly. This development ameliorates the concerns that the commission had.” The NYISO now has 30 days to file its revision.