William J. Kemble reports in The Daily Freeman that the Public Service Commission is investigating Central Hudson over complaints the company has unfairly shut off electrical service to customers, and that it attemps to collect debt from people who don't owe them money. The watchdog group Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson is also, "now representing 47 cases it says show a pattern of racial discrimination in collection practices," according to the story. “One member was shut off by Central Hudson while using lifesaving equipment in her home and had to immediately be taken to the hospital to avoid a worsening of her condition and possible death,” the group wrote in a PSC filing. “Another had severe asthma that had led to heart failure in the past and, while she told Central Hudson about her condition, they still proceeded to shut her off until she opened a PSC complaint. Finally, a third member was shut off with a very young son with a heart condition, despite Central Hudson’s knowledge of the condition and the dangerous situation it would cause if she could not use the appropriate monitoring machines.” In the filing, the group cites these statistics: "Of 209 complaints 106 were black and 56.6 percent of those cases ended with service termination, 19 were Latino and 52.63 percent had electricity shut off, and 69 were from white respondents and 36.23 percent had service terminated." Central Hudson spokesman John Maserjian blamed some of the behavior on a recent business merger, saying, “With the merger with Fortis, additional funds have been provided to help bolster some of our low-income programs.... Central Hudson is still locally run.... There is no change in policies as a result of our association with Fortis. We still offer the same assistance programs as we had, and our policies regarding customers who might be facing arrears are the same.” Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.