William J. Kemble is reporting in the Daily Freeman Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. wants to recoup the cost of restoring power during a 2014 snowstorm by charging customers higher rates. The outage affected 45,000 customers. The Poughkeepsie-based utility is seeking approval from the state Public Service Commission to collect nearly $5.3 million from ratepayers. Central Hudson has not said what the impact on individual ratepayers would be. The company said the storm resulted in nearly $800,000 in overtime costs and more than $336,000 in additional pay for managers. Central Hudson contends its acquisition by the Canadian company Fortis left it without a reserve sufficient to deal with large storms. The matter will be reviewed by the Public Service Commission at its meeting Thu., Jan. 21. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.