Utility bill increases subject of Yorktown NY town hall with NYSEG
NYSEG representatives met with their customers to discuss raises to their bills at a Yorktown Town Hall held March 12, 2025.
Zohran Mamdani. If you’re out there, some Westchester County leaders would like a word.
State lawmakers from the Lower Hudson Valley opposed to Con Edison’s plan to increase monthly bills for its electric and gas customers are trying to enlist New York City’s next mayor in their fight before it’s too late.
The problem is New York City already agreed to a joint proposal with Con Edison that included a three-year rate plan with annual increases of 2.8% for electric and 2% for gas customers. But it was signed by the administration of Mayor Eric Adams, who won’t be around once the sticker shock of rate hikes kicks in for Con Edison customers, says state Assemblyman Chris Burdick, a Democrat from the Lower Hudson Valley.
And Burdick thinks Mamdani, currently a fellow member of the Assembly who’s signed onto bills that would benefit utility customers, should take a look.
“Zohran is not a fan of the utilities,” Burdick said. “I think he would be a natural ally in our opposition to the joint proposal.”
What Mamdani said about Con Ed during Trump meeting
Indeed, Mamdani, the Democratic socialist who bested ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral election last month, sounded like an ally during a mostly-chummy White House meeting with President Trump on Nov. 21.
“Absolutely,” Mamdani responded when Trump threw shade on Con Edison. “We are going to have to talk to them (Con Edison),” Trump had said. “We have to get Con Edison to start lowering the rates.”
Mamdani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the situation.
‘Phones ringing off the hook’ about heating bill hikes
The state Public Service Commission is slated to rule on the rate hike proposal in coming months. It could accept the joint proposal or modify it.
The vote comes as surging gas and electric costs have left more than 1 million customers across the state behind at least two months on their bills, an energy affordability crisis that’s fueled a steady chorus of complaints.
“We continue to have our phones ringing off the hook from constituents who are scared to turn their heat up to make sure they can stay warm at night or do their work from home because they’re not going to be able to afford to put food on their table as the utility rates continue to skyrocket,” Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg said Tuesday, Dec. 2 during a press conference in White Plains.
She was joined by fellow Westchester County Democrats Burdick, Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky, State Sen. Shelley Mayer, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins and Vedat Gashi, chairman of the county board of legislators, in urging the PSC to reject the proposal.
Con Edison has more than 3.7 million customers, most of them in New York City. About 10% are in Westchester County.
Levenberg and others are concerned Westchester ratepayers are being forced to subsidize the high property taxes Con Edison pays in New York City.
And they say under the joint proposal the delivery side of customer bills —the portion used to fund Con Edison infrastructure upgrades and other costs — will go up by 4.3%, 5% and 3.3% over the next three years. That’s separate from the supply side portion of customer bills, which are largely determined by market forces like the cost of natural gas.
“You could turn your thermostat down all the way and you’re still going to get hit with this incredibly large bill that you cannot afford,” Mayer said Tuesday.
She’s opposed to increases above the rate of inflation rate that allows Con Edison a return on equity of 9.4% that will lead to bigger profits for Con Edison shareholders.
“The Con Ed shareholders have done really well,” Burdick said. “And it’s time that, like other companies, they reinvest in their company rather than fopping it off all the time on ratepayers.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul made a similar argument earlier this year when she urged the PSC to reject Con Edison’s initial rate hike plan, which at the time included double-digit percentage hikes.
Is the state listening to Westchester pols on Con Edison?
Con Edison defends the joint proposal, saying it was the product of a “highly inclusive process” that reflects the concerns of many.
“Con Edison is acutely aware of the issue of affordability, which is why last year we provided more than $300 million of discounts to income eligible customers in our energy assistance programs,” the company said in a statement.
Last month, 40 Westchester County municipalities agreed not to oppose the proposal, a decision that appeared to be at odds with the stance taken by Burdick and others this week.
But Burdick said the municipalities were able to lock in assurances like price guarantees for customers who want to make the transition to ground source heat pumps and other clean energy technologies.
In the end, he and the others thought the hikes were still too high. “We didn’t get what we felt we should be getting,” he said.
He’s hoping Mamdani will take notice.
“It was very apparent to us that they also were pushing because they wanted it to be done before the new mayor came in,” Burdick said. “If they (New York City ratepayers) get hit with rates the way they are now it’s really going to hit the fan and there are going to be a lot of recriminations.”
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
