Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. electricity costs have reached their lowest levels of the year. The current 6.4 cents per kilowatt hour is down from 13.7 cents per kWh a year ago. Central Hudson price of natural gas is now 49.3 cents per hundred cubic feet, down from 87.5 cents last year at this time. Central Hudson is asking the New York Public Service Commission to increase electric rates by 16 percent and natural gas rates by 19 percent, and a decision on that is expected next year. The Public Service Commission has recently criticized the utility’s billing practices, citing negligence, defects, and mismanagement. Read more about. this story in the Daily Freeman.