Exclusive | Rival Dem Ritchie Torres blasts NY Gov. Kathy Hochul as critics charged up over Con Eds proposed rate hikes

The critics are charged up.Gov.Kathy Hochul’s Democratic rival is blasting Con Edison’s “outrageous” proposed rate hikes as he urged the state’s utilities regulator to reject any increase above the rate of inflation.“Governor Kathy Hochul’s Public Service Commission must reject any proposed rate hike that far exceeds the rate of inflation,” Bronx Rep.

Ritchie Torres said in a letter to the commission.“Ramming a double-digit rate increase down the throats of New Yorkers, who are reeling from years of inflation, would mean breaking the Governor’s promise of an `inflation refund’ and `no new taxes.’ “The utility giant is asking the PSC to jack up average electric bills by 11.4% and send gas bills soaring 13.3% — a move that could mean a wallet-busting $1,848 more per year than customers paid in 2020.“A rate hike is a tax on New Yorkers.”Hochul’s spending plan includes $3 billion to fund ‘”inflation rebate” checks of $300 to single New Yorkers who make up to $150,000 per year and $500 for joint tax filers making up to $300,000 per year.“At a time when New York is struggling to recover from the highest inflation in more than four decades, the attempted double-digit rate hike reveals a profound disregard for the plight of most working-class and middle-class New Yorkers,” said Torres, who is mulling a run for governor against Hochul in a party primary next year.“The notion that New Yorkers should be expected to perpetually absorb the shock of relentlessly rising costs is tone-deaf and out of touch.Since 2022, under Governor Kathy Hochul, the average Con Ed customer has been paying $50 more per month for gas heating.”Torres cited a March 2024 report by Switchbox, a climate think tank, claiming that one-quarter of New Yorkers cannot afford to pay their utility bills.He also cited the case of Wardean Squire-Askew from the Bronx—who served in the US military for 23 years and in NYC Health + Hospitals for 43 years — and has ...