The New York state comptroller has responded to a Schenectady assemblyman’s call to investigate National Grid delivery charges.
In August, the Public Service Commission approved a three-year rate plan request submitted by National Grid.
After the approval, the utility said residential electricity customers using an average of 625 kilowatt-hours per month would see an estimated total monthly bill increase of more than $25 over three years.
Residential gas customers using an average of 78 therms per month would see an estimated total monthly bill increase of just under $25 dollars over the next three years.
But many people across the state are reporting bill increases that are larger than what had been estimated.
111th District Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara says his own National Grid bill was double what he normally pays. And he’s been hearing from numerous constituents who have reported similar increases.
“We’re seeing people that are using less, they’re lowering their thermostats and they are still paying more they are insulating their homes, they are changing doors they are trying to be as energy efficient as possible but it doesn’t seem to be making a difference because what has happened is, the delivery charge exceeds usage by far,” Santabarbara said.
The reports of high bills led Santabarbara, whose district includes parts of Schenectady, to call for a state comptroller investigation into the utility’s delivery charges.
In a letter responding to Santabarbara’s request, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote, in part, “utility bills are a serious affordability problem in New York, with many residents paying among the highest rates in the nation.”
Additionally, DiNapoli referred to a 2020 audit that found the PSC “failed to sufficiently monitor utilities’ compliance, was not effectively holding utilities accountable, was not applying monetary penalties and other sanctions as appropriate, and was not verifying utility data, which in some cases was inaccurate.”
The letter did not specifically address whether the comptroller will or will not begin an investigation.
When reached for further comment, a spokesperson for the comptroller said the office “would let the letter speak for itself.”
In Santabarbara’s view, elements of the comptroller’s letter supports his calls for an investigation.
“My letter back to him and my discussions with him we’re sort of narrowing the scope to see if there is something we can agree on where it does allow him to look into delivery charges, how they are calculated, how they are justified,” Santabarbara said.
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the PSC said the group does not comment on legislative proposals but welcomes public participation, scrutiny and oversight in regulatory proceedings, including in utility rate cases.
Patrick Stella, a spokesperson for National Grid, says there are three main components that factor into a bill — supply, delivery and usage.
Stella says while delivery rates saw an increase with the August approval of the new rate plan, supply costs and usage — especially during the region’s recent cold spell — have also increased. When combined, he says, these factors explain the bills.
“The last that I saw with the National Weather Service is that we have not seen this long a cold spell in over a decade, so people are using more, the supply costs have gone up, and as you mentioned our delivery rates went up back in August, so all three of those things are culminating right now and customers are seeing those higher bills,” Stella said.
He says that the August estimates of bill increases are consistent when it comes to the cost of delivery charges but did not take into account future supply cost increases.
“Supply costs like I said are on the open market so they are volatile and those are the things that we’re seeing that are a little bit out of you know what we could forecast back when those delivery rates went into effect in September,” Stella said.
He says delivery costs will stay the same until next year when the second phase of the increases take effect.
And as for those that may see delivery costs that are higher than their supply, Stella says using more electricity or heat raises both the supply and delivery cost portion of a National Grid bill.
“If you are using more electricity you are going to pay more on that delivery portion so the delivery part will go up,” Stella said.
