Kingston, NY – The Office of Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha announced today that she will not be signing onto the joint proposal reached through months of closed-door settlement negotiation between the Department of Public Service staff, intervening parties to the rate case, and Central Hudson.

“The authorized rates recommended in the Joint Proposal do notfit the description of just and reasonable, owing largely to the high authorized rate of return on equity (ROE) that gives corporate monopolies like Central Hudson the right to collect more profits than what is fair,” said Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, “Central Hudson’s current rate of return equity (ROE) is 9.2%, which gives it the right to charge customers a profit of roughly 4.4 cents for every dollar of shareholder investment it spends on capital projects. The proposal would increase the rate to 9.5%, up 0.5% from what it was in 2023, meaning the customer’s profit obligation would go up to roughly 4.56 cents per dollar. According to 2025 a report from American Liberties Project, for rates to be considered just and reasonable, the authorized ROE should be far lower, closer to 5% or 6%.

I urge the Public Service Commission to (1) require Central Hudson to conduct and present a detailed analysis—at no cost to the ratepayers—on how lower ROEs would affect its financial viability and (2) come up with a plan to implement the commission’s commitment to capping utility bills at 6% of household income.

Overall, the proposal authorizes an increase of $95.8 million in revenues Central Hudson can collect from its roughly 321,703 electric customers over three years from, and $47.9 million from its roughly 89,884 gas customers over the same period. At a time when unpaid bills are at a record high, and the affordability crisis continues, such increases are not sustainable for my constituents.

Furthermore, ratepayers deserve much more transparency and democratic decision-making. While I support parts of the joint proposal and thank the DPS staff for their diligence, I do not believe that utilities that are granted a monopoly franchise should be allowed to raise rates in order to increase their profits.”

“Communities for Local Power opposes the Joint Proposal that proposes a rate increase and higher Return on Equity (ROE) for Central Hudson shareholders.” said Anna Markowitz, Executive Director at Communities for Local Power, “ For the past 4 years Central Hudson customers have experienced incorrect bills due to a faulty Central Hudson system which has caused financial hardship to thousands of families. At a time when the Hudson Valley is still distrustful of Central Hudson due to their history of incorrect billing, is not the time to increase their rates. In addition, we do not support their inflated investments in gas infrastructure which allows them to earn an increased ROE to benefit their shareholders. The investment to fix gas infrastructure that is due to sunset as legislated by New York State, disproportionately inflates the delivery costs charged to ratepayers in the short term and will create unpayable stranded costs over time. We will continue to advocate for a reduction in gas infrastructure investments and the lowest utility rates possible for Central Hudson customers.”