Roger Hannigan Gilson is reporting for the Times Union the Public Utility Law Project, a group that advocates for utility customers, filed a motion on December 5, with the state Public Service Commission requesting a prudence review, which would determine if Central Hudson Gas and Electric spent money inappropriately in a way that harmed its customers. The group also wants "every individually identified problem" found by the prudence review to result in a fine "to be returned directly to the company's ratepayers," according to the motion. The PSC is investigating Central Hudson's billing practices, as is a state Senate committee chaired by Sen. James Skoufis. Widespread problems with billing were reported starting in September 2021 when Central Hudson switched to a new billing system. The company appears to be rectifying its billing issues, but the amount of money owed to the company in back payment has changed little from the- summer. In October, nearly 19 percent of Central Hudson's residential customers owed more than $64.5 million, or roughy $1,110 per account, according to Central Hudson's Collection Activity Report. Public Utility Law Project Executive Director Laurie Wheelock said her organization filed the motion requesting a prudence review because "we were so troubled. ...It's just very concerning — it's been well over a year now." Wheelock's organization is concerned about the taxpayer-funded utility customer subsidies, such as the Home Energy Assistance Program, and whether those funds were properly received and used by Central Hudson to help low-income residents. The group is also troubled by the possibility that Central Hudson could pass fines resulting from either the investigation or the prudence review onto ratepayers. The PSC said the investigation into Central Hudson's billing practices was ongoing, but could not provide a possible completion date. The second investigation, undertaken by the state Senate's Investigations and Government Operations Committee, is close to being completed, and the final report is expected in early January. Read more in the Times Union.

Michael DeMasi is reporting for Albany Business Review the planned $100 million expansion of the Albany International Airport terminal is expected to break ground in late spring 2023 and be completed by late 2024. The Albany County Airport Authority December 5, formally accepted a $60 million state grant toward the construction budget. Federal infrastructure and airport improvement funds will cover the remainder, according to spokesperson Doug Myers. The CHA engineering firm of Colonie will design the project. The drawings and specs have not been finalized, so the project has yet to be put out to bid, Myers said. The expansion will be built in front of the 290,000-square-foot building in the area of an existing pedestrian bridge that connects the terminal to a parking garage. That bridge will remain in place until construction is completed. The 30,000-square-foot expansion will allow more room for the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint on the second floor of the terminal, along with a bigger area for picking up or dropping off passengers. The space will also accommodate more concessionaires, such as food vendors. The airport authority also approved hiring Fennick-McCredie Ltd. of Boston to design two more boarding gates in Concourse A. The concourse expansion is part of the airport's long-term strategy to attract more airlines. The larger concourse will include a new business center, "quiet room" to accommodate people with special needs, and a children's indoor playground. Federal infrastructure funding will cover part of the cost. Read more in the Albany Business Review

David Robinson is reporting for the Poughkeepsie Journal New York state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett submitted her resignation last week. Bassett will return to her role in academia at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health effective January 1. She served just over one year as the state's top health official. "This was a very difficult decision," Bassett said in a statement, noting she has "tremendous admiration for the work our staff has done during a very difficult year responding to COVID, mpox [monkeypox], polio and the day-to-day challenges of protecting New Yorkers’ health." Bassett said she was leaving now so the next commissioner can have the chance to serve a full four-year term under Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was elected in November to a full term since she replaced Gov. Andrew Cuomo in August 2021. Basset replaced Dr. Howard Zucker, who resigned several months after Cuomo. "I am deeply grateful to Dr. Bassett for her service to New Yorkers and for her leadership during one of the most challenging public health eras of our lifetimes," Hochul said in a statement. The governor's office did not immediately answer questions about its plans for appointing the next health commissioner. Read more in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Today's daily news update.

The Greenville Central School District reported on social media that the vote on their $14.48 million capital project Dec. 6 passed 398 to 112. “I’m excited to announce the passing of our capital project by a margin of 398 yes votes to 112 no votes, and the addition of a high school student member of the Board of Education by a margin of 413 yes votes to 93 no votes,” shared Superintendent Michael Bennett wrote online. “We’d like to thank the Greenville Central School District community for coming out to support the capital project that will significantly improve many of the teaching and learning spaces at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. We look forward to the day students will have the opportunity to learn, and our educators will have the opportunity to teach, in these new spaces.” Work is expected to begin in May of 2024, mostly on Scott M. Ellis Elementary School.

Melissa Manno reports for the Times Union that the Hudson Opera House, Crandell Theatre in Chatham, and Thomas Cole House in Catskill were among 69 statewide winners of $15 million for tourism facility capital improvements. The funding comes from the Regional Economic Development Councils as part of the Market New York program. The Hudson Opera House, Inc. is getting $66,500 for marketing the Hudson Jazz Festival. The Crandell Theatre will receive $323,000 towards restoration efforts and to publicize the FilmColumbia film festival. The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is getting $120,000 to promote the “Women, Land + Art: Showcasing the Hudson River School for Contemporary Audiences” exhibit. Locally, Kite's Nest in Hudson was the big winner, getting $1,600,000 to transform a two-acre formerly industrial Hudson Riverfront property into a campus for education, youth employment, environmental justice, and the arts. And the Town of New Lebanon is receiving $20,000 for assistance for a Renovation Project Action Plan for the Town's main commercial corridor. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Joseph Spector reports at Politico that now that former Long Island Republican Congressperson Lee Zeldin lost his bid to be governor, he is now not going to challenge incumbent Republican National Committee chairperson Ronna McDaniel for her leadership post. But he thinks someone should. “I won’t be running for RNC Chair at this time with McDaniel’s reelection pre-baked by design, but that doesn’t mean she should even be running again,” he said in a statement. “Change is desperately needed, and there are many leaders, myself included, ready and willing to step up to ensure our party retools and transforms as critical elections fast approach, namely the 2024 Presidential and Congressional races.” Republicans were discussing Zeldin for the post after he did surprisingly well against Democrat Kathy Hochul, and after New York elected several new Republican Congressional representatives while, nationally, the GOP lost the Senate and only won a narrow majority in the House or Representatives. But now Zeldin says he is not running for the post. “The better path forward would be for Chairwoman McDaniel to listen to and respect the wishes of the actual grassroots voters of our party and allow the RNC to forge ahead with new leadership,” Zeldin said. Read more about this story at Politico.

Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that environmental advocates are hoping that Gov. Kathy Hochul will sign a bill that would expand the number of streams in the state that could fall under environmental protection. "C" class waterways, currently used for boating, fishing, and other recreational activities, would be reclassified as streams if Hochul signs Senate Bill S4162. "Because of the close contact people have with class "C" waterways, listing them as streams will allow for their protection," according to the bill's memorandum. Agriculture organizations and the New York State Highway Superintendents Association oppose the measure, and in 2020 then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a similar bill. The Northeast Dairy Farmers are also against the legislation, saying in the statement the proposal, "would be an inefficient use of taxpayer resources, while adding undue financial and regulatory burdens for family farms, other landowners, and Local Soil and Water Districts." Peter Harckham, a state Senator who sponsored the legislation says the bill would add 40,000 miles of Class C streams in New York State to the Protection of Waters Regulatory Program and "give the state Department of Environmental Conservation the authority and resources to safeguard these streams." Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

Today's daily news update.

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Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman Ulster County lawmakers adopted a county budget for 2023 that increases by $2 million the spending plan proposed by Acting County Executive Johanna Contreras. However, the property tax cut proposed in the executive plan will remain in place. The $381,342,516 budget was adopted by the Legislature on a vote of 20 to 2 after lawmakers made more than two dozen changes to the plan as proposed by Contreras. The adopted budget increases spending by 8 percent or $28.4 million over the county's existing financial plan. Contreras said the budget “reinforces county government’s commitment to serving our residents by investing in essential services and doing our part to relieve the financial pressures that residents are feeling." Legislator Joseph Maloney, a Democrat, criticized the budget as wasting spending too much of the taxpayer’s money without regard for the future. He said legislators failed to do their due diligence in reviewing a spending plan by not looking “inward in the budget.” Minority Leader Ken Ronk said, “I think there were missed opportunities. I think there were some misplaced priorities, but overall I think it was a good budget and to me, the positives outweigh the negatives ...." The budget adopted by legislators included the addition of $663,351 for the creation of an emergency services division within the Emergency Services Department; and the addition of $171,345 to cover the costs of pay raises for all the county’s elected officials except the district attorney, whose salary is set by the state. Legislators also voted to add a second investigator in the District Attorney’s Office. Another change was the elimination of the constituent service navigator division created during the COVID-19 pandemic to respond to the hundreds of calls to the county for information and services, the creation of a centralized arraignment program, and additional funding for the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals spay/neuter program. Despite the increased spending, the adopted budget maintains the 3 percent reduction in the amount to be raised by taxes proposed in the executive plan. The budget now goes to Contreras for final consideration. She will have five days to either allow it to take effect or to veto any changes made by legislators. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.

Raymond Pignone is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the New York State Thruway Authority Board of Directors December 5, authorized next steps in the toll increase process. The Thruway Authority is proposing a 5 percent hike for E-ZPass drivers beginning January 1, 2024. The board of directors must hold a series of public hearings on the proposal before the Authority can formally adopt the increases. Hearings will be held throughout 2023. Under the proposal, beginning January 1, 2024, the base E-ZPass rate will increase by 5 percent outside of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. A second 5 percent increase would take effect in January 2027. Authority Board of Directors Chairperson Joanne M. Maloney said at the December 5 meeting that members are ready to listen to suggestions on alternative ways to raise funds needed to maintain and repair aging infrastructure. Statewide, tolls will remain frozen system-wide through 2023. If approved, this will be the first system-wide toll increase in 14 years. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.

MidHudson News is reporting the US Department of Homeland Security has delayed by two years the deadline to acquire a REAL ID.  The deadline for enforcement was scheduled for May 3, 2023, but has now been pushed to May 7, 2025. Under the amended REAL ID regulations, beginning May 7, 2025, every traveler 18 or older must have a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or another TSA-acceptable form of identification at airport security checkpoints for domestic air travel. The extension is necessitated in part because REAL ID progress over the past two years was significantly hindered by state driver’s licensing agencies having to work through the backlogs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. States will now be able to give residents more time to get licenses and identification cards that meet security standards. Once the REAL ID enforcement deadline passes, the law requires the Transportation Security Administration will not accept driver’s licenses and identification cards that do not meet federal standards. All 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and four of five U.S. territories covered by the law are issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards. Read more at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Today's daily news update.

Catskill High School reopened on Dec. 6 as heat and water were restored, but Catskill Middle School remained on virtual instruction after a water main issue. The school system's website said on Dec. 6 that, "Water has been restored, however the building’s boiler room experienced significant flood damage and the building currently has no heat. We are still assessing the situation, but unfortunately it appears that it may take an extended period of time to get heat back into the building. As a result, CMS will be on virtual instruction Tuesday, December 6 until further notice. There will be no in-person instruction and students will report to classes online only." Computers for home use, and meals, are still being distributed at the middle school. The Catskill Elementary School was not impacted by the water main issue.

Pete DeMola reports in the Times Union that the Coeymans Landing Marina was fined $49,724 in July after a fiery explosion last January that injured a worker. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration filed four violations against the marina because of the explosion that started after a welder inadvertently ignited an oil tank. Settlement talks with the federal agency eventually reduced the fine to $14,917. OSHA officials found that marina employees were improperly trained on hazardous chemicals in their work areas, and that the Coeymans Marina did not insist that cutters or welders and their supervisors were suitably trained. Carver Companies, the marina owners, did not respond for comment about their violations. Marina worker Eric Allen started the explosion in the boat shop welding near a 275-gallon waste-oil tank. Vapors caused the tank to explode, spraying oil within the blast radius. Allen suffered serious burns to his chest, abdomen, hands, arms and torso, with Joe Gessner dragging out his co-worker and using a fire extinguisher to knock back the flames. Smoke from the fire could be seen miles away. Hours later, firefighters got the flames extinguished. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Kenneth C. Crowe II reports in the Times Union that the floating solar array for the Cohoes city reservoir is not in the water yet, but Rep. Paul Tonko wants to create similar projects across the nation. Tonko is introducing legislation for federal support to replicate the project. “The innovative project in Cohoes shined a light on the advantages of floating solar to reach our nation’s renewable energy goals and reduce bills for families and communities. Since the inception of this project, I’ve said that the Cohoes reservoir will serve as a model for the nation and—with my POWER our Reservoirs Act that I just introduced—it will do just that,” Tonko, a Democrat representing the 20th Congressional District, said on Dec. 2. Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler predicts that the $5.9 million array with 8,000 solar panels will be floating in the fall of 2024 or the spring of early 2025. “We said from the start this could be a national model. We’ve been working with the congressman. He’s been super enthusiastic and a great help to us financially,” Keeler said. Tonko says a 2018 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that deploying floating solar on the country’s more than 24,000 human-made reservoirs could save 2.1 million hectares of land and meet 10 percent of the country’s electricity needs. Solar arrays in water cost more than land-based systems, but have other benefits, including reducing algal blooms. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Today's daily news update.

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Sam Raudins reports for the Albany Business Review that the State University of New York Board of Trustees on Dec. 5 named John B. King Jr. as the new chancellor of its higher education system. His appointment is effective January 17. Deborah F. Stanley, former president of SUNY Oswego, has served as interim chancellor since January. King served as the U.S. Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama from 2016 to 2017, and as the New York State Education Commissioner from 2011 to 2014. In 2017, King became the president and CEO of The Education Trust, a nonprofit that looks to identify and close achievement gaps for students. He was a candidate for Maryland governor, but finished in sixth place in the April 2021 Democratic primary. King holds an undergraduate degree in government from Harvard a masters and doctorate from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a law degree from Yale. He started his career as a high school social studies teacher. "I'm only sitting here today because of the difference public education made in my life. My parents, who were both New York City public school educators for their whole careers, both passed away when I was a kid...," he said Monday. "It was unstable, lonely, scary a lot of the time. But school — public school, New York City public schools — quite literally saved my life. Amazing New York City public school teachers made school a place that was safe and nurturing and engaging. ..." SUNY has been without a permanent chancellor since Jim Malatras resigned earlier this year after 2019 text messages were made public in which he made disparaging remarks against former government colleague Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. King will be paid an annual salary of $750,000. Read more in the Hudson Business Review.