Starting next week, the office of Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha will be holding seven town halls across the 103rd Assembly District on the topic of energy democracy. According to the office, each town hall will include a presentation and discussion on why corporate utilities run our energy system, how we can get involved in stopping the Central Hudson rate increases, examples of cases where people have defeated corporate utilities and ways we can come together to democratize our energy system.

The town halls are scheduled as follows and RSVP is required.

Saturday, Sept. 23, 2 p.m. at the Kingston Library
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m. at SUNY New Paltz
Tuesday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Saugerties Senior Center
Thursday, Oct. 5, 6:30 p.m. at the Woodstock Community Center
Thursday, Oct. 19, 6:30 p.m. at the Olive Free Library
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2 p.m. at Esopus Town Hall

RSVPs can be submitted by visiting https://bit.ly/ad103energy

“We are by no means alone in being fed up with our corporate energy utility,” Shrestha stated. “Downstate, Con Edison just won a rate increase that’s going to be an average of $64 more per bill. So we need to make sure that our constituents are made aware of the ways in which corporate utilities are set up to exploit ratepayers, and the ways in which we can oppose the Central Hudson rate hikes.

“We should also feel empowered by recognizing that this is a bigger fight that people all over the world are involved in. From Maine to Rochester, people are organizing at the grassroots level to beat their corporate utilities. And whether it's a small town by the Adirondacks or faraway France, people have successfully come together to beat corporate utilities before.

“The conflict between people and profits in our energy system is not new. At the dawn of New York's hydropower, then-Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to curb the power of hydro barons with Public Power, and in the 19th century, Nikola Tesla — who helped design the modern alternating current electricity supply system — dreamed of clean energy that would be available for free to everyone.

“Today, not only do we pay for energy, we pay for dirty energy and we pay for corporate monopolies to make guaranteed profits while delivering this energy to us! There is such a thing as a perverse incentive for these corporations to make money from ratepayers while building out an infrastructure that harms us. A rate case like the one Central Hudson is about to have will illuminate many of these problems, and we need to get as many people involved as possible, because these are big fights that require commitment and collective action.

“I know that the Hudson Valley is more than ready to do its part in building a future of a democratized energy system, and our office will do its part in providing the information and tools people need to be able to do so.”