New York Commission Approves $62.59 Million Settlement to Resolve Central Hudson’s Billing Issues

The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a $64.59 million settlement agreement resolving an ongoing investigation into Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation’s billing system failures. This settlement could increase by another $2 million if the company fails to implement monthly meter readings on time.

A more detailed breakdown of the settlement revealed that the company’s shareholders must pay over $35.3 million in costs incurred over the last two and a half years to fix the customer information and billing system. Shareholders will pay another $4 million that will be allocated by the commission to directly benefit customers. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will not challenge $8.75 million in negative revenue adjustments caused by the billing system issues. So far, the shareholders have paid $8.2 million for back-billing credits to customers that resulted from the billing system failures.

Shareholders will bear an estimated $6.3 million in costs incurred (or projected to be incurred) to fulfill monthly meter readings. In addition to the $62.59 million, further payments of up to $2 million would be required if the company fails to issue monthly meter readings by Oct. 31, 2024. Initially, the company’s goal was to deliver monthly meter readings by February 2026. However, this settlement incentivizes the company to move up this deadline to October 2024 by requiring additional payments of $500,000 for each month of delay up to $2 million.

An independent monitor that reviewed the case has found that the company fixed its billing issues and the system is now stable. The Department of Public Service noted that the number of customer complaints has decreased by 88 percent since March of 2022, the lowest number since the company implemented its new billing system.

Central Hudson serves approximately 309,000 electric customers and 84,000 natural gas customers in the Mid-Hudson River Valley.