State Sen. Michelle Hinchey’s district office is offering in-person one-on-one customer service sessions with Central Hudson to help constituents address individual billing issues on Tuesday, May 30, from 5-8 p.m. Appointments are required; constituents of her 41st Senate District may schedule theirs at bit.ly/HincheyCH.

“Our community members deserve resolutions to their utility billing issues, and I’m proud to announce that my office is offering in-person, one-on-one customer service sessions to connect constituents directly with Central Hudson representatives who can provide real-time support,” the senator stated in a press release. “My team and I are always working to make it easier for our constituents to access services, especially when it comes to streamlining Central Hudson utility assistance, and we look forward to helping people through these customer service sessions.”

Hinchey’s office, the statement stated, “has been instrumental in helping constituents resolve Central Hudson billing issues and, to date, have mediated nearly 1,000 cases.” Hinchey has been in the forefront of efforts in the state legislature to bring transparency to the utility industry, including legislation to ban estimated billing (S1851A), which passed the Senate unanimously this session.

Hinchey also sponsors legislation (S4234A) to prevent utility companies from charging customers if they send a bill over two months late, and require companies to send a two-year history of past charges with each bill so customers can compare past usage and clearly see if they are being billed accurately. A third bill sponsored by Hinchey in the Senate and Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha in the Assembly (S7294/A7074) would significantly increase penalty fees on utility companies for violating PSC law by 272 percent to account for historic inflation, and indexes them on an annual basis going forward.

For more information, call Hinchey’s office at 845-331-3810 for assistance, including help filling out the appointment form.