EDITORIAL: Politicians are partially to blame for skyrocketing utility bills
By Michael Martucci, Publisher
Healthy businesses are the lifelines of thriving communities. From small “mom-and-pop” shops to large corporations, these businesses shape our neighborhoods, cities, and regions. They provide essential goods and services while also generating growth, innovation, and employment opportunities.
When it comes to a strong economy, our elected officials should engage in thoughtful leadership and promote growth and economic expansion. They must balance the needs of everyone while giving important consideration to appropriate, pro-business policies related to over-regulation and high taxes.
Unfortunately, we know New York’s business climate is among the worst in the nation. A recent Tax Foundation report ranked NY as having the 49th worst tax system out of 50 states.
Having served as State Senator, I am aware of problems some constituents had with Central Hudson. A poorly executed billing system rollout caused huge amounts of confusion for some of its customers. Many of those impacted were my constituents and my office helped get these people answers when the utility was swamped with phone calls from frustrated customers. Since then, it appears the company has taken meaningful steps to fix its problems, including inviting thousands of customers to meet with them at public open houses.
What is truly unfortunate is that local politicians have continued to hammer the utility with half-truths and overblown rhetoric and have failed to acknowledge the positive steps the company has taken. Worse, those same public officials have wrongly conflated the proposed Central Hudson rate increases with the billing issues that were previously reported and corrected, without acknowledging their culpability for the needed rate increases in the first place.
I came into office in 2021, not knowing nearly as much about utility operations as I do now, so I…
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