Big energy bills: Central Hudson hits up former Columbia, Icon customers for service

Central Hudson says about 25,000 homeowners and businesses that have not received a bill for electricity service in the past three or four months will finally begin receiving those bills again in the coming week, if their billing has not resumed already.

Complaints from customers had surfaced recently after they were hit with high bills from Central Hudson, which serves more than 300,000 customers in the Hudson Valley, including in Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, Sullivan and Putnam counties.

The company said the vast majority of those customers are former customers of Columbia Utility Power, which was known as a community choice aggregation (CCA) business, essentially a third-party supplier.

Some customers of a second third-party supplier, Icon Energy, also are affected, but Central Hudson spokesman Joseph Jenkins said they were only a handful compared to the Columbia customers.

A CCA business allows communities to leverage their buying power to buy in bulk and get more competitively priced rates for those who agree to participate in them.

Columbia served 10 municipalities in the Mid Hudson region: the cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie, the towns of Saugerties, Marbletown, New Paltz, Clinton, Philipstown and Red Hook, and the villages of New Paltz and Cold Spring. Individual customers in those municipalities could opt out of the arrangement if they wished.

But earlier this year, Columbia lost its ability to participate in the New York energy market after it failed to make required payments to the New York Independent System Operator, which runs the energy grid in the state. Icon was suspended about the same time.

All customers of Columbia returned to getting their full-service electricity supply from Central Hudson as of July 19. The handful of Icon customers switched back as of June 15.

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So why is billing only resuming now?

Jenkins said the utility company experienced some technical issues in making the switch.

"It's not as simple as flipping a switch to make it happen," Jenkins said.

Jenkins acknowledged that one result was that some customers are now receiving very large bills all at once.

However, he also said that Central Hudson had informed those customers about what was happening, through emails if they had an email address on file with the company, and by traditional mail if they did not.

There was one notice sent in July about the change from Columbia and Icon back to Central Hudson, and another notice in September when the utility realized there would be a delay in billing, Jenkins said.

The utility is working with all customers to assist them in coping with the change and the resulting large bills, Jenkins said.

No one's service has been cut off, and no customers have been hit with late payment charges, he said. All are being given the opportunity to take advantage of Central Hudson's deferred payment plans that are offered to other customers who have difficulty paying their bills, he said.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, the Poughkeepsie Journal and The Journal News. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Central Hudson begins billing former Columbia, Icon customers