Con Ed Workers and Residents Condemn Con Ed at Board’s Final Public Input Session
A packed room of angry community members and utility workers exposed predatory practices and voiced outrage about Con Edison’s alarming rate hike proposals at the Westchester County Board of Legislators’ sixth and final Public Input Session in Mount Kisco on Tuesday, August 19.
The presence of current and former Con Edison utility workers, who comprised nearly half of the 50 attendees at the Mount Kisco Library, ignited the evening. Frank Morales, President of the Utility Workers Union of America, A.F.L.-C.I.O., Local 1-2, spoke passionately about the exploitative practices and wasteful spending of Con Edison leadership.
As an example, Morales revealed that “among the IT projects Con Ed wants ratepayers to fund is a plan to install driver cameras in all vehicles. Con Ed previously placed these cameras in trucks and vans, then removed them because they failed to reduce accidents or improve driver safety,” he said. “Instead, they were a distraction, activating every time vehicles hit potholes or had to brake suddenly. Enough is enough. Con Ed, stop bleeding ratepayers dry.”
The utility is seeking increases that would raise residential bills by an average of 11.4% for electricity and 13.3% for gas by 2026, inflicting an undue burden on working families, older adults, and small businesses.
“That 20% isn’t just money, it’s prescription money, it’s grocery money,” said one distraught resident.
Another frustrated speaker noted, “Disabled residents with only one window for ventilation cannot afford air conditioning during the summer… while the Con Ed CEO is earning massive compensation.”
The Board launched the series of public forums as part of its commitment to oppose the proposed double-digit rate increases. Comments from this and all of the Board’s Con Edison Public Input Sessions will be submitted to the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC), which makes the final decision about the utility’s rate increases. In March, the County joined Con Edison’s rate case before the PSC, to ensure residents have a voice in proceedings that will shape their energy costs.
Board Chairman Vedat Gashi (D- New Castle, Ossining, Somers, Yorktown) said, “We are united against Con Edison’s outrageous rate hike proposals—across party lines, branches of government, local communities, state representatives, and, as we heard at our last Public Input Session, Con Ed workers themselves.”
In addition to Chairman Gashi, legislators Shanae Williams, Terry Clements, Nancy E. Barr, Benjamin Boykin II, David T. Imamura, Erika L. Pierce, Jewel Williams Johnson, Emiljana Ulaj,and Margaret A. Cunzio listened intently to speakers, which included Mount Kisco Mayor J. Michael Cindrich and Trustee Thomas G. Luzio.
Residents are encouraged to submit written comments directly to the PSC here.
