ROCHESTER N.Y.(WROC) – In Wednesday night’s meeting, Metro Justice said to start this process, they would need a feasibility study of a takeover, which they saw would better serve energy consumers. The total cost would be $1.5 million. So far, Rochester City Council has given $500,000 towards this. Now the group says all that’s needed is for the county to chip in a million dollars.
Two weeks ago the NYS Public Service Commission approved a rate hike for RG&E that would raise the electric rates up to 16% and gas just below 11% over the next three years.
Some residents in the area say they’ve had enough.
One resident stood up at the meeting, located at the Federation of the Social Workers Union Hall, sharing she has a home in Rochester but is rarely there because she visits her son living in Gates. She went on to say, once she received her RG&E bill it was shocking, to say the least.
“I got my RG&E bill. Nobody’s living there, no cooking, nothing. They came in, the bill was $2,000,” she said.
Many others explained that their bills were similarly shocking. One said their bill got as high as as $10,000.
In addition, they spoke about issues with customer service.
Adbullah Watkins, who is a Metro Justice volunteer, also reported receiving an excessively high bill, and said it’s time to make a change.
“With town halls like this and people like you folks out here, we believe we’re going to get the message across and it’s very clear. RG&E will go,” he said.
He added, the first step is to get the money.
“The goal is to get the study funded and commissioned with public oversight by the end of this year,” said Watkins.
Overall, residents who attended the meeting agree that they want a public utility instead of a private one – like Rochester Gas and Electric.
Watkins said first: a study must be conducted. Then the city will need to pass a law to allow a public utility to be created. And finally, RG&E can be led to sell its infrastructure to the community.
“We know that this is a very large undertaking, the law and the facts though are on the side of a public utility,” a Metro volunteer explained.
RG&E released a statement following this meeting saying,
“RG&E has made significant improvements to customer service, drastically lessening customer wait times, improving the accuracy of billing and hiring hundreds of new staff. We will continue our forward-looking plan to address any additional customer needs, that includes offering more assistance for low-income customers, while investing in upgrades to our aging infrastructure, with new technology to increase reliability and supporting business and community development throughout our region. We stand ready to have conversations on our forward moving progress as opposed to politics.”
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said previously, spending a million dollars on a study does not make sense. A position, he said, that has not changed.
Metro Justice shared they are disappointed in his stance in all of this.
Full Statement from RG&E:
Our position is, and has always been, that a government-controlled utility is not the answer for Rochester. Service and reliability will be compromised, while putting taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars by significantly raising rates, jeopardizing needed grid improvements, and halting any transition to clean energy. RG&E has made significant improvements to customer service, drastically lessening customer wait times, improving the accuracy of billing and hiring hundreds of new staff.
We will continue our forward-looking plan to address any additional customer needs, that includes offering more assistance for low-income customers, while investing in upgrades to our aging infrastructure, with new technology to increase reliability and supporting business and community development throughout our region. We stand ready to have conversations on our forward moving progress as opposed to politics.
