Watkins gives preliminary rate approval

WATKINS GLEN--The Watkins Glen board of trustees held a special meeting Monday, June 21 to approve a roughly 16 percent increase to electric rates which, pending state approval, residents will begin to see on their bills in November. While the board voted unanimously to approve the rate increase, which translates to roughly half a cent per kilowatt, the rate increase can not go into effect unless the New York Power Authority Board of Trustees approves it during their September meeting.
"It sounds like a lot...but to break this down in layman's terms, our kilowatt rates are so low, currently we pay .038 cents per kilowatt, and it would go to .042, so less than half a cent, that for an average resident they (would see a total increase of) $6.20 increase per month," said Watkins Glen Mayor Luke Leszyk.
While the board of trustees approved the increase, it was done at the explicit recommendation of NYPA.
"None of these rates can happen without NYPA recommendation; maintenance replacement costs, everything is taken into consideration, and then they recommend how much to increase to be sustainable," Leszyk mentioned.
With the local approval, it will now go before the authority.
"We approved it but it still has to go before the NYPA board so we won't know until September and residents would not see it on their bills until November... but this could go before the NYPA board and they don't approve it, everything is pending their approval," Leszyk commented.
With the rate increase, Leszyk said Watkins Glen electric rates will still fall well below that of NYSEG rates.
"Electricity will still be cheap in Watkins Glen, even with this rate increase," Leszyk stated.
The rate increase, which is the first for electric bills since 2004, will not go up the full 16.05 percent all at once if it is approved. Instead, the rate increase will take place over three years.
The rate increase required a public hearing in order to ensure the matter would be able to go before the NYPA board in September.
"This is why we had to hold the special session, last week (during the regular session) we didn't have the numbers to vote," Leszyk said.
Leszyk added the recent rate increases were necessary in part because of how much infrastructure cost upgrades were avoided in the past.
"It is unfortunate that all this seems to be coming at the same time but that's the trouble with putting things off," Leszyk said. "It's inevitable, you can't just keep putting it down the road for the next person to worry about."