Ulysses and Trumansburg officials back NYSEG reform after audit

A recent report into the business practices and operations of New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) released by the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) yielded 128 recommendations for the utility company to follow to improve its service.

The report, released May 20, was commissioned in 2023. The scope of the audit also includes the Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) Corporation. Together, both subsidiaries of parent company Avangrid provide electricity to 1.3 million households and businesses, as well as natural gas services to 591,000 customers in the state of New York.

The release of the report comes at a time when several elected officials representing the town of Ulysses and the village of Trumansburg at the federal, state and local levels, have asked for an independent review of NYSEG’s practices. 

At the April 14 meeting of the Village of Trumansburg Board of Trustees, Tompkins County Legislator Anne Koreman, a Democrat who represents Trumansburg, announced that the county legislature had voted on a resolution at their April 1 meeting calling on the New York State Legislature to investigate NYSEG. 

Days later, on May 16, U.S. Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, announced an investigation into NYSEG. 

Rep. Riley said in a release that his office has sent a formal request to NYSEG demanding detailed billing data, an explanation of recent rate hikes and clarity on whether customer payments are contributing to corporate profits overseas.

NYSEG is a subsidiary of Avangrid, Inc., an energy services and delivery company that serves about 3.1 million customers throughout New England, Pennsylvania and New York. Avangrid is headquartered in Connecticut, but its parent company, Iberdrola, is headquartered in Spain.

The findings of the PSC’s report include:

• Prioritize improved transparency: The auditor found that Avangrid’s complex corporate structure makes it difficult to determine whether the charges it allocates to NYSEG and RG&E are based on costs incurred, according to a press release issued by the PSC. The companies receive goods and services from 13 corporate affiliates. Some of those affiliates hold companies for multiple utilities, thereby limiting the transparency of the allocations and making it difficult to ascertain whether costs are being allocated appropriately. The auditor recommends that the companies revise and update the cost allocation manual and simplify the cost allocation process.
  
• Highlight performance incentives for corporate leadership at NYSEG and RG&E: The auditor found that incentive payouts for executives are subjective and are not based on attaining goals specific to NYSEG and RG&E.  The audit recommends that Avangrid conduct a third-party review of the NYSEG and RG&E CEO’s individual metrics and discontinue discretionary assessments.
  
• Improve physical and cyber security: The auditor noted that physical and cyber security programs are administered at the Avangrid level and that the cyber security program is not growing as it should, despite cost increases. The auditor recommended that Avangrid strengthen its cyber security planning documents and metrics used to track performance and improve reporting to staff.
  
• Invest in better software for asset management: Avangrid should implement formalized asset management software, as it still relies on spreadsheets. Avangrid underspends on asset management, contributing to NYSEG’s poor electric reliability performance.
  
• Reform how customer service works: The auditor found that Avangrid does not have appropriate controls for customer service outsourcing, augmented staffing invoice review and approval,or contract management.  The auditor recommends that Avangrid determine drivers of call center cost increases and verify whether they are attributable to NYSEG and RG&E.  

State Senator Lea Webb, who represents the 52nd Senate District, including Trumansburg and Ulysses, said in a statement to Tompkins Weekly that her constituents consistently bring up NYSEG bills as an issue.

“They are fed up with skyrocketing bills, unexplained increases, and poor customer service issues. I am deeply concerned that so far, the independent, third-party auditor made 128 recommendations to improve NYSEG’s operations and customer experiences,” Webb said. 

NYSEG and RG&E must file an implementation plan by June 18 to be reviewed by PSC staff to ensure the steps described in the implementation plan address the underlying findings and recommendations in the audit report. The implementation plan will then be submitted for public comment. 

“The review and follow up that PSC will do is paramount for creating more accountability and affordability with utilities,” Webb said. “I will be watching this issue closely and await NYSEG’s implementation plan to address these issues.”

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com

In brief:

The Ulysses Philomathic Library is hosting an artist reception June 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for artist Lin Price’s exhibit “Life Is But A Dream.”

Below is a statement provided by Price:

“The paintings in the exhibition are part of a series I worked on from 2007-2013, that features an ‘Everyman’ character, who exists in invented painterly terrains.  It is an alternate dream-like world that mirrors back to us the difficulties of daily existence and unspoken longings. And, although I’ve chosen to depict a particular model, there is an element of autobiography in many of the paintings.

“Recurring themes emerge; work, isolation, stress, searching, anticipation, and caring, and I believe many people in our times can identify with them.  The paintings are idiosyncratic and I attempt to execute them with empathy towards the human condition. 

“Through imagination, playful creation of abstracted spaces, and color composition, I attempt to show an inner world that is mysterious, somehow noble, and non-linear — as dreams and life often are.”