M'burgh Village to Battle Rising Electric Costs

MIDDLEBURGH - Like many New York residents, Middleburgh village officials are looking for ways to cut rising electric costs.

National Grid rates have "skyrocketed" for the village this year with no end in sight, Mayor Tim Knight declared Monday night.

Mayor Knight detailed the price increases. The electric bill for the water pump station has gone up from $1,642 to $2,639, with the same amount of usage. The bill for the sewage treatment plant increased from $1,395 to $3,048, despite the fact that usage went down.

"It's absolutely insane," the Mayor said. 

Officials agreed to fight the increasing electric costs in two different ways Monday, possibly putting solar panels on the sewer plant roof and supporting two bills in the state legislature.

Department of Public Works superintendent Cole Keyser suggested putting solar panels on the sewer plant roof to reduce costs. On Monday, village board members agreed to get quotes for the solar panels.

The village has to get a handle on the costs, Trustee Bob Tinker said. "We need to recover it and who knows if it will stop there and I'm not sure why it's happening."

One reason for the hike is a 20 percent rate increase for National Grid was approved last year, Mayor Knight noted.

The rate hike is to be implemented over three years: 12 percent for this year and four percent each for the next two years.

"As a rate payer, we're kind of stuck in the middle," he said.

Village board members agreed to support two pieces of state legislation and asked state representatives in the state Assembly, Senate, and Governor to "pursue and support all legislative efforts to address New York State's Affordability Crisis."

The two bills that village officials are backing are: 

* Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara's legislation to reform the Public Service Commission, which approved National Grid's rate hike in 2025, and to provide legislative oversight over future utility rate increases.

* Senator Thomas O'Mara's legislation requires that any surplus or unspent ratepayer funds remaining in NYSERDA's Clean Energy Fund be returned to ratepayers as a bill credit.

"Everybody's getting hit," Trustee Tinker said. "We're all getting hammered by it."

Asked by residents the reason behind the price hikes, Mayor Knight said it could be meeting higher standards or price gouging or "somewhere in the middle."

He added, "It's expensive as hell."