Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that after some delay, the Public Service Commission has scheduled four in-person public hearings about Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s proposal for a large price hike for electricity and gas customers. One hearing will be at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Robert Antonelli Senior Center in Catskill. The others will be held in October in Kingston, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie. At online hearings last week 48 speakers weighed in on the proposed rate increases, most opposing the price hikes. Central Hudson wants a one-year 16 percent increase in the delivery rate for electricity and 19 percent for gas customers. They claim that would add roughly $1 a day to the typical electric customer and natural gas customer. The proposal for higher costs comes as records indicate that from February 2020 through June 30 of this year, residential customers’ arrears greater than 60 days grew by 1,044 percent, to $96 million, while non-residential arrears grew by 1,971 percent, to $29 million. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.