Updated July 2026: this statement has been corrected. When it was first published, it described the NYSEG increase as taking effect in May 2026 and attributed several profit figures to National Grid. Regulators granted only small temporary rates, and those profit figures belong to NYSEG. Both are corrected below.
Energy costs are rising faster than wages across Western New York, and the utility serving much of our region is asking for more while its profits climb.
What’s happening right now
- NYSEG has asked regulators for a 35% increase in electric delivery rates and nearly 40% for gas. For a typical residential customer, that would be an extra $33/month on electricity and $34/month on gas. Regulators have not granted it: in May 2026 the Public Service Commission allowed only small temporary increases, about 0.2% on a typical electric bill and 1.7% on gas, while it finishes reviewing the case
- National Grid has an approved three-year upstate plan raising electric revenues by $167.3M (year 1), $297.4M (year 2), and $243.4M (year 3), which works out to 3.4%, 5.6%, and 4.6% of total revenues. It originally asked for a 25.5% delivery increase; regulators cut the first-year request by 67%
- NYSEG’s audited financials show net income rising from $212.2M in 2023 to $244.1M in 2024, with operating income up from $279.5M to $330.5M. That is the same company asking for the 35% increase
- Meanwhile, the county estimates more than 80,000 low-to-moderate income households could benefit from utility savings programs. As of late 2025, about 1,400 were enrolled in ECLIPSE
What it means for District 11
- The county’s Utilities Aggregation Fund budgets $38.8 million in 2026 to buy energy for dozens of local governments, school districts, and authorities; the county’s own share is about $1.1 million. Every rate increase hits those budgets directly and gets passed to taxpayers
- Homeowners in rural Southtowns communities with older housing stock, electric heat, and longer winters are hit hardest
- Farmers face rising operational costs that squeeze already thin margins
- Fixed-income seniors and disabled residents face impossible choices between heating and medication
What Erie County Is Doing Now
Credit where it’s due. The county has taken real steps:
- Utility Aggregation Fund: Projected to save members approximately $1.5M on electric and $800K on gas in 2026 through bulk purchasing
- ECLIPSE Program: Community solar for income-qualified residents, offering ~10% savings on electric bills
- Community Solar expansion: The county is expanding participation for county-owned facilities
These programs are good. They’re not enough.
What We Should Be Doing
1. Build a Multi-County Rate Case Coalition
When utilities file rate cases with the NY Public Service Commission, counties can intervene as parties. Most don’t, and a single county filing comments carries little weight. Erie County should lead a coalition with Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Wyoming counties to file joint interventions. Combined, these counties represent hundreds of thousands of ratepayers. That’s leverage.
2. Demand Rate Symmetry and Automatic Refunds
When wholesale energy costs spike, utilities pass increases to customers immediately. When costs drop, retail rates lag, sometimes by months or years. The difference is pure profit.
The county coalition should push the PSC for:
- Automatic rate adjustment mechanisms that flow decreases to customers as quickly as increases
- Mandatory refund provisions when utilities over-collect relative to actual costs
- Profit-sharing triggers — when utility earnings exceed their approved rate of return, the excess should go back to ratepayers, not shareholders
3. Expand Aggregation and Community Solar Aggressively
- Extend aggregation savings to every eligible county facility, not just the ones currently enrolled
- Push to expand ECLIPSE eligibility beyond the current qualifying programs to reach moderate-income households who are above the threshold but still struggling
- Actively support towns and villages in District 11 in forming or joining Community Choice Aggregation programs to negotiate better supply rates
4. Transparency on Utility Profits vs. Rate Requests
Every rate case filing should be accompanied by a county-published fact sheet showing:
- The utility’s current profits and earnings trends
- The requested increase and its impact on a typical household
- How the increase compares to wage growth in the region
- What the utility is actually spending on infrastructure vs. shareholder returns
Residents deserve to see these numbers in plain language, not buried in PSC filings that run thousands of pages.
5. Advocate in Albany
The county should actively support state legislation that:
- Strengthens municipal authority to form and expand CCA programs
- Requires utilities to justify rate increases against their actual profit margins
- Creates automatic consumer protection mechanisms in rate structures
- Funds weatherization and energy efficiency programs at the county level to reduce demand
The Principle
Nobody is saying utilities shouldn’t earn a fair return. Infrastructure costs money. Grid upgrades are real.
But when a company’s net income climbs to $244 million in a year and it then asks families to pay 35% more on delivery, something is wrong with the system. And when local governments across Erie County are buying $38.8 million of energy a year through the county’s pool, and that energy keeps getting more expensive, every taxpayer is affected, whether they realize it or not.
County government should be fighting for ratepayers at the PSC, building coalitions with neighboring counties, and using every tool available to bring costs down. Right now, most of that fight isn’t happening. It should be.