ConEd has asked NY State for permission to raise your gas + electric rates by up to $60/month. We asked Gov. Hochul’s Public Service Commission to give ordinary NYers a chance to weigh on this proposed rate increase. They wouldn’t do it. So we held our own hearing last Monday. And more than 50 Astorians came out to fight the proposed increases. We began the night by asking our neighbors whether the Public Service Commission should reject the rate increase. Every single person raised their hand. Then our neighbors began to line up to testify. They spoke about their own experiences living near the ConEd plant and the difficulties they now face breathing, or as small business owners who stand on the precipice of eviction, or as tenants who’ve opened the mail to find a surprise $1,219.25 bill. All of this, just to make ConEdison’s profits larger. With the 37 comments we received last Monday, we have now submitted more than 500 comments from Astorians against the rate hike. And alongside all of this, we continue to be a party to the confidential negotiations going on - using every avenue we have to keep calling on Governor Hochul and her Public Service Commission to reject it. To accept it is unconscionable and unaffordable. 📸: @karamccurdy 🎥: @miafermindoza