ALBANY — The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) today set temporary rates for New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation (RG&E) that are substantially less than what the companies have requested. By setting temporary rates, the Commission is protecting customers from rate hikes that would be compounded by a delay, allowing the utility to continue making necessary investments for safety and reliability, and providing all parties involved with additional time to review a complex record and establish permanent rates. Final rates are expected to be decided by the Commission in the coming months.
“Governor Hochul is demanding strict fiscal discipline from the utilities and has directed the Department of Public Service to prioritize affordability for ratepayers while scrutinizing any rate increase proposals to ensure the lights and heat stay on,” said Commission Chair Rory M. Christian. “The Commission’s authority to establish temporary rates during the course of a rate proceeding for electric and gas utilities is well-founded. We have determined that a temporary rate, in the context of these major rate proceedings, is the best tool available to provide the additional time necessary to thoroughly review the proposals and make our final determination to establish just and reasonable rates.”
The Department of Public Service (DPS), the staff arm of the PSC, and other parties to the rate case have been in litigation with NYSEG and RG&E over the proposed rate increases for several months. After an initial round of negotiations among the parties did not result in a timely settlement, Administrative Law Judges from the DPS have presided over a prolonged evidentiary process necessary to complete a litigated record, and their work is ongoing. The establishment of temporary rates relieves some time pressure for the Administrative Law Judges to complete the case and provides more time for the Commission to review the record. Setting temporary rates also provides the option to resume settlement discussions among the parties in the case.
The temporary rates have no bearing on the Commission’s final determinations. By law, the Commission has 11 months to make a determination on a utility rate filing. Failure to act by the effective date of the filed tariff requests creates a situation where those requests, as properly filed and noticed, become effective as a matter of law.
In the meantime, the Commission determined that the best evidence for establishing the companies’ expenses during the temporary period is the values provided for the most recent rate case decided by the Commission. The temporary rates set by the Commission starting June 1, 2026, allow the two utilities annual revenue increases as follows: 3.7 percent for NYSEG electric, 0.5 percent for NYSEG gas, 4.0 percent for RG&E electric, and 1.5 percent for RG&E gas.
The typical bill impacts associated with these temporary revenue increases will vary slightly by service class (e.g., residential, commercial, industrial), but the Commission’s order directs the utilities to establish upper and lower bounds for any adjustments by service class so that the temporary rates do not create significant changes for any customer.
For residential customers, the temporary rate increases are expected to result in total bill impacts of: 0.2 percent for NYSEG electric, 1.7 percent for NYSEG gas, 2.9 percent for RG&E electric, and 1.2 percent for RG&E gas.
Under the companies’ proposed tariff changes filed on June 30, 2025, NYSEG and RG&E are seeking substantially higher rates than those authorized today on a temporary basis.
DPS staff estimates that if NYSEG’s proposed changes were allowed to go into effect as filed, the requested increase in electric delivery revenues would result in a monthly bill increase of $33.12 (a 23.7 percent increase to total bill) for a typical residential customer using 600 kilowatt-hours (kWh), and that the requested increase in gas delivery revenues would result in a monthly bill increase of $33.57 (33.5 percent increase to total bill) for a typical residential heating customer using 83 therms.
DPS estimates that if RG&E’s proposed changes went into effect as filed, the requested increase in electric delivery revenues would result in a monthly bill increase of $33.01 (26 percent increase to total bill) for a typical residential customer using 600 kWh, and that the requested increase in gas delivery revenues would result in a monthly bill increase of $18.87 (22.2 percent increase to total bill) for a typical residential heating customer using 83 therms.
Establishing temporary rates when faced with statutory timeframes for a rate determination happens infrequently, but is not unprecedented. In this case, the complexities warrant additional time for review. The four rate proceedings have produced a vast amount of material requiring due consideration and thorough party input, whether this case continues on its current litigated path or returns to settlement negotiations. More than 20 parties participated in the evidentiary hearings, resulting in 10,300 pages of hearing transcripts and an exhibit list consisting of nearly 1,200 documents admitted into evidence. In addition, there are voluminous transcripts from the two virtual and nine in-person public statement hearings, as well as approximately 26,700 written public comments. Finally, the requested increases are among the highest requested by any utility in recent history, which accentuates the necessity of additional evaluation.
As part of its decision-making process, the Commission observed from the record that an increase in annual revenues for the companies may ultimately be necessary when it is able to make its final determination on the NYSEG and RG&E filings. Based on analysis thus far, DPS staff experts recommended increasing revenue for NYSEG electric by approximately $66.9 million (5.4 percent in total revenues), and for NYSEG gas by approximately $26.4 million (8.7 percent in total revenues). Likewise, DPS’s recommended base delivery revenue requirement increase for RG&E electric is approximately $68.9 million (7.9 percent in total revenues), and for RG&E gas is approximately $21.6 million (6.4 percent in total revenues). But the DPS experts also noted that these calculations must be reviewed in the context of current economic difficulties customers are experiencing and noted the Commission may need to consider further reductions.
NYSEG serves more than 921,000 electric customers and more than 270,000 natural gas customers across a broad swath of upstate New York. RG&E serves more than 392,000 electric customers and more than 324,000 natural gas customers within a nine-county region centered around the City of Rochester, Monroe County.
Today’s decisions may be obtained by going to the Commission Documents section of the Commission’s website at www.dps.ny.gov and entering Case Numbers 25-E-0375/25-G-0378 (NYSEG) or 25-E-0379/25-G-0380 (RG&E) in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number". Many libraries offer free Internet access. Commission documents may also be obtained from the Commission’s Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.
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