Utility Payout Nears for Highlands Residents

Checks to be mailed starting April 18 

Beacon, Cold Spring and Philipstown residents who lost electricity supplied at a fixed rate when a supplier reneged on a contract will begin receiving compensation checks this month.

Joule Assets, which administered Hudson Valley Community Power on behalf of residents in 10 municipalities, said residents and small businesses enrolled in its contract with Columbia Utilities as of July 18, 2022, will receive about $50. Checks will be mailed beginning April 18. 

The amount will depend on the number of eligible residents, said Joule, adding that the checks must be cashed by July 17 and will likely refer to the name of the lawsuit: Town of Saugerties et al v. Columbia Utilities Power LLC. 

On Dec. 5, a state judge approved a $1.5 million settlement with Columbia, which had agreed to sell renewable energy at 6.6 cents per kilowatt-hour for residences and 7.1 cents for small businesses under HVCP, a community choice aggregation plan.

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.