One the country’s bluest regions is learning about the high cost of going green.
Customers of New York’s Consolidated Edison, the electric and gas utility that services New York City, is proposing a massive rate increase that would cost Big Apple customers paying utility bills almost $2,000 more a year than they did in 2020, the New York Post reported Thursday.
And the company blames energy mandates imposed by the New York state government, led by Gov. Kathy Hochul, for the hikes.
The proposed rates are being reviewed by the state Public Service Commission, the Post reported
And one former member of that commission told the newspaper the hikes are a sign that the state is headed in the wrong direction.
“We have to take a breath,” former Commission John Howard said, according to the Post.
“We’re not telling Mr. and Mrs. New York how much this transition to clean energy will cost them.”
The Post based its figures on customers using 600 kilowatt-hours per month — the average for New York state households, according to the electricity marketplace website Electricchoice.com.
Con Ed officials argued that New York City customers use less electricity than others in the state and claimed the Post’s figures were too high — that its proposal would amount to a hike of 15.7 percent, or about $46.42 to $289.41 per month, but there’s no denying that a rate increase is a rate increase.
And there’s no denying that New York’s Democratic-run state government has a mania for electricity mandates.
Hellbound and Down 