P.S.C.: State utility customers overpaid by $250 million

Scott Waldman

ALBANY—Utility customers were overcharged about $250 million over the last five years as part of a state-imposed surcharge on energy bills, according to a member of the Public Service Commission.

In 2009, New York imposed the so-called 18-a energy surcharge on ratepayers and ordered utilities to collect the money. Since then, $2.9 billion has been collected from ratepayers from the “temporary” tax. But none of it actually went to energy conservation or energy-saving programs, Public Service Commission member Diane Burman said on Thursday. Instead, the money went to the state's general fund.

“What I find disturbing is we are having to revisit just how awful the 2009 law was and the devastating effects the collections can have on New Yorkers,” she said at the P.S.C.'s monthly meeting. “We are now first addressing that in some cases the collections may have been significantly overcollected to the tune of close to $250 million dollars.”

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/06/8547124/psc-state-utility-customers-overpaid-250-million