What’s going on with Central Hudson Gas & Electric’s billing system?

» How have customers been affected?

If you’re a Central Hudson customer, chances are you’ve recently experienced one or more of the following:

Confusing statements
The “Payments & Adjustments” section can be particularly confusing due to something called “Exception Billing.”

Errors in estimated electricity usage vs. actual usage
For many customers, the new system defaulted to estimated usage rather than actual usage.

Inconsistent billing periods
Some customers received separate statements for each billing period, while others received a very high, combined bill after many months.

» What about net-meter solar customers?

Prior to fall 2021, solar net meter accounts were billed every other month with actual meter readings; however, since the new billing system has been implemented, solar net meter customers have received inconsistent and sporadic bills. Central Hudson is working to correct this and bring accounts up to date by issuing either a single corrected summary bill based on actual usage for the previously estimated periods, or several separate corrected bills for each of the estimated billing periods.

Keep in mind that although your banked solar credits are being recorded, they will not appear on your bill. If you are concerned that your solar credits will be inaccurately recorded, we recommend taking a photo of your meter periodically. Central Hudson has a portal for you to submit your own meter reading.

» What about Community Solar (CSA) customers?

Central Hudson has stated that they will send CSA customers one bill for every month that they did not receive a bill. The usage and cost details will be provided on the individual monthly bills, reflecting the usage and electric supply charges for that month. Your most current bill will reflect the cumulative charges and any payments received. Remember: your banked solar credits are being recorded, but they will not appear on your bill. 

When reading your bill, look for the letters “CDG,” standing for Community Distributed Generation — this is how Central Hudson refers to CSA credits. If you call Central Hudson with a question, make sure to reference “CDG” for better clarity.

Also remember that SunCommon CSAs do not do “consolidated billing” through Central Hudson. If you are speaking with someone from CH’s Customer Contact Center, and they inform you that you are charged a monthly payment by CH to participate in your SunCommon CSA, let them know that this is not true. SunCommon does not exchange fees with CH, and we bill our CSA customers directly.

Additional resources:
https://suncommon.com/a-guide-to-your-central-hudson-bill-with-solar
https://www.cenhud.com/globalassets/pdf/my-energy/cdg-customer-letter.pdf

» Does this impact CSA customers who participate in Central Hudson’s budget billing program?

For customers in this program, CSA solar credits were previously calculated on a monthly basis, alongside your budget plan. Under their new billing system, Central Hudson will now reconcile your CSA credits annually, which means you will NOT see savings from your CSA membership each month. You’ll continue to pay your full monthly budget bill to Central Hudson AND your monthly CSA payment to SunCommon.

If, however, you cancel your CH budget billing plan, you WILL see savings from your CSA membership each month. Because you pay a consistent, predictable monthly rate for your CSA membership, it essentially is a budget billing plan in itself! Canceling your budget billing plan with Central Hudson will actually allow you to experience the benefits and savings of the CSA program as they were originally designed.

» What are the different charges on my bill?

Basic Service Charge
Found under the “Energy Delivery Charges” section of your bill, this charge includes maintenance of electric lines, meter reading, and other costs. This charge cannot be offset by solar credits.

Delivery Charges
This is set by state regulators and represents the cost for Central Hudson to deliver electricity to its customers. Any delivery charges that have an associated kWh amount can be offset with solar credits. (Note that on 7/1/22, delivery charges increased by $1.72 per bill and will rise an additional $1.82 starting 7/1/23. By June 2024, the estimated impact for the average customer is an annual increase of $64.)

Supply Charges
This represents the electricity provided by your energy supplier — either Central Hudson, an Energy Service Company (ESCO), or a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) through your municipality. Solar credits can offset supply charges. SunCommon is not an energy supplier, though we are part of the Community Distributed Generation (CDG) system. (For Central Hudson customers who received delayed bills, the supply charges were prorated to reflect market prices in effect at the time the energy was used.)

Related press:

Central Hudson solar customers hit with high bills at the holidays (12/14/21)

Public Hearing on Central Hudson’s Billing Practices Draws Over 100 Attendees (5/4/22)

Ulster County Request for investigation into Central Hudson Gas & Electric’s billing practices (3/5/22)

Officials urge PSC to suspend Central Hudson rate hikes, speed up billing investigation (5/19/22)

Central Hudson billing problems probe site swamped with public comments (4/1/22)

Lawmakers push legislation to ban utility companies from estimated billing (8/12/22)