Mid-Hudson News reports that State Senator James Skoufis, the Democrat chair of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, has released his committee’s report on the problems local utilities have had with pricing practices. Central Hudson Gas and Electric’s failed new billing system is the subject of most of the report. Skoufis said, “We make recommendations such as requiring the Public Service Commission to have to affirmatively vote and approve of any changes within a utility when it comes when it comes to turning over to a new billing vendor, new billing software, so that the state regulators actually have a say when that happens in an attempt to try and create another set of eyes and watchdogs before we have thousands and thousands of ratepayers injected into a new system that in this case certainly failed miserably and caused a lot of trauma.” Central Hudson has been under intense criticism and state investigation after starting a new billing system that sends out notices to customers erratically, often with large amounts due. The report from the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee also said the state should strengthen oversight of utility hedging practices, standardize customer communications, provide limitations on retroactive billing, heighten requirements on annual audits, and include prohibitions on service shutoffs. See more about this story at Mid-Hudson News.