Liz Montgomery reports in Porcupine Soup that the Public Utility Law Project of New York filed a lawsuit on Oct. 31 to get the Public Service Commission to block a proposed rate increase from Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. A nonprofit advocacy organization said it “felt compelled to file after hearing the public’s consistent and ongoing concerns about the company’s billing problems that were raised recently at four virtual and four in-person hearings in Catskill, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Kingston.” Central Hudson is trying to charge 16 percent more on the average residential electric bill and around 19 percent on the average natural gas bill. Joe Hally, vice president of Regulatory Affairs for Central Hudson. said, "We believe that this proposed rate plan is essential to address our infrastructure needs, recover from the impacts of COVID-19, and ensure that we can respond effectively to extreme weather events―which are occurring more frequently." Central Hudson is under investigation by the Public Service Commission over its 2021 rollout of a new billing system that led to thousands of customer complaints about overcharges and delayed bills. State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, a Democrat from Saugerties, cheered on the lawsuit, saying, “When a utility company is under active investigation by the PSC for its billing problems, giving that company a rate increase would set a dangerous precedent.” About 309,000 electric customers and 84,000 natural gas customers get service from Central Hudson in the Hudson Valley. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.