Vacca Urges Bronxites to Fight Outrageous Con Ed Rate Hikes
Record profits add insult to injury as utility proposes three-year, 13% hike
BRONX, NY — Council Member James Vacca (D-Bronx) today called on frustrated Bronxites to flood state regulators with phone calls and e-mails in protest of Con Edison’s “obscene” plan to raise the average household’s electric bill by 13%, or roughly $11 per month, over the next three years — even as the utility pulls in record profits.
Con Edison earned $1.2 billion in net income in 2008, a 60% increase from two years earlier, according to public data reported by the utility. Shareholder dividends increased from $533 million to $618 million over the same period, a 16% jump. Yet even after hiking rates by 6% last April, Con Ed is now asking the state’s Public Service Commission for three consecutive years of 4.3% hikes, starting in 2010, in the hopes of raising revenue by nearly $420 million a year.
“When the city or the state or even the MTA raises rates, it’s bad enough, but at least you know the money’s being used to plug a deficit,” Vacca said. “Con Edison is already operating with a surplus, and still they have the audacity to ask for another billion dollars from you and me. The Public Service Commission must recognize that middle-class New Yorkers are already getting pummeled by rising property taxes, sales taxes, water bills, and transit fares ─ they must say no to these outrageous hikes.”
The Public Service Commission, whose five members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate, has the sole authority to approve or deny rate increases. To contact the Commission, residents can call (800) 335-2120 or visit www.dps.state.ny.us and fill out the “PSC comment form” under the “Consumer Assistance” tab. The Commission is asking that public comments be submitted no later than Tuesday, February 2.
Contact: Bret Nolan Collazzi, (718) 931-1721 / (646) 261-4471
Bret Nolan Collazzi
Deputy Chief of Staff
Council Member James Vacca
250 Broadway, Room 1749
New York, NY 10007
Tel: 212.788.7375
Fax: 212.442.2724
Cell: 646.261.4471
