A months-long investigation by the New York State Public Services Commission finds the Central Hudson leadership to be responsible for the overcharging and billing delays for thousands of customers.
Central Hudson is a major utility delivering electricity and natural gas within the Mid-Hudson Valley region, including an eastern portion of Orange County.
In Sept. 2021, the company started to implement a new $88 million billing system, which led to a surge of customer complaints about excessive and delayed billing.
The complaints prompted the New York State Public Services Commission to open an investigation into the company’s billing system early this year.
Under state law, the commission has a duty to ensure safe, reliable utility services at a reasonable rate.
Since the investigation, public comments received by the commission have reached over 4,000.
According to the newly released investigation report, 8,500 Central Hudson customers were hit with overcharges, with many having tens of thousands of dollars deducted from their bank accounts without advance notice.
The utility serves a total of 300,000 electric and 84,000 gas customers.
The investigation also discovered about 4,800 customers had not received a bill for over three months.
As of Nov. 11, over 8,000 customers still face delayed billing.
The report concluded that the billing issues were primarily caused by system errors, lack of staff, lack of training, and lack of testing at the utility.
It further added that the company’s intention to upgrade its billing system was not to be blamed, but rather the failure of the leadership to properly implement the change.
The commission is contemplating a civil penalty action against the utility.
The Epoch Times reached out to Central Hudson for comment.
Cara is an Orange County, New York-based Epoch Times reporter. She can be reached at cara.ding@epochtimes.com
