Beacon, Philipstown residents to receive payout

A state judge on Dec. 5 approved a $1.5 million settlement with an energy company that defaulted on a contract to supply renewable electricity at a fixed rate to residents of Beacon, Cold Spring, Philipstown and seven other municipalities.

Columbia Utilities admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to a $1 million payment into a settlement fund and $50,000 monthly payments by June 1, 2025, to cover the balance. The Ulster County judge overseeing the case also approved $286,585 in attorney fees and up to $56,500 in administrative costs. 

More than 23,000 people in the 10 municipalities are eligible for payouts that the settlement administrator estimated would average between $46 and $50. 

The account holders had each signed up in 2021 to purchase renewable energy at 6.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for residences and 7.1 cents for small businesses under a community choice aggregation (CCA) program called Hudson Valley Community Power.

In April 2022, Columbia notified the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility regulator, that it intended to transfer CCA customers back to Central Hudson.

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One reply on “Judge Approves CCA Utility Settlement”

  1. This article was of great interest to me, especially the note that CCA customers were transferred back to Central Hudson.

    Now, can we please get some justice from Central Hudson? I’ve been stuck in an endless circle of a billing/meter-reading dispute with the company. When resolved, Central Hudson suddenly finds new charges. At one point, it actually sent me 16 months of “duplicate” bills, while our meter reader has been accurately reading our meter every month. I’ve been paying the monthly bill every month on time, while Central Hudson tacked on $1,500 in “past due” charges.

    I’ve been seeking the assistance of local legislators with some success. However, I’m wondering if I’ll have to take Central Hudson to court, which, of course, will be way more costly than the $1,500 back charges they claim I owe. I can’t even compute the cost to me of the hours spent preparing spreadsheets and letters, fruitless conversations with representatives of the corporation and complaints filed with the State Public Service Commission. Perhaps others are in the same bind and we can approach the state court.

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