NEW YORK (PIX11)—
New Yorkers may've dodged a big bullet in the guise of double-digit rate hikes in their electricity bills scheduled for May 28, Memorial Day Weekend.Senator Charles Schumer vowed Sunday to fight a ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that decided power companies needed an extra $500 million a year in profits, that would translate into residential rate hikes between 10 to 12 percent for regular folks and 14 percent for businesses.
Published reports say Schumer spoke Friday with FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who is reportedly open to taking another look at the matter. Schumer says there should be a hearing with the next week or two.
As things stand, the average electric bill for a typical city apartment is around $74, calculated on 250 kilowatt hours of power usage a month. That bill would jump to $86 dollars, $12 more than it was in July 2010. The hikes will come on top of a 4 percent rate increase the state OK'd for Con-Ed, which took effect Friday -- and was no April Fool's joke.
Businesses will be even more hard-hit. For example, a small company with an electric bill of $406 in July 2010 will have to fork over $477 in July 2011, a nearly 20 percent increase.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has joined Schumer in the fight to keep the rates down, this as the New York congressional delegation fires off a letter doing the same.
Con-Ed -- which stands to gain nothing from the FERC ruling -- also opposes the hikes.
Meanwhile, a top lobbyist for the state's electric-generating industry is reportedly overjoyed at the FERC ruling, saying he has no reason to feel bad about his clients' windfall, a windfall that would mean an even bigger hardship for ordinary new yorkers, already struggling in a shaky economy.
