Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger says the investigation into Central Hudson’s billing practices has made something very clear.

“It admitted that there were all these problems, but it’s trying to argue that there shouldn’t be any penalties incurred," Metzger said.

The investigation started following customer complaints over the gas and electric company’s new billing system. The state public service commission’s report says that customers experienced issues including large automatic withdrawals from accounts, receiving multiple bills a month and inaccurate and inflated bill totals.

“Literally impossible for their usage to go to the levels that Central Hudson is reporting," Metzger said. "A single elderly person in a house is using enough electricity for a mid-sized business. It makes absolutely no sense.”

In a statement, Central Hudson spokesperson Joseph Jenkins says that they “acknowledge that technical issues associated with the implementation resulted in negative experiences to groups of customers.” They say any bill issues were resolved and reimbursements were made. Metzger says she’s heard from constituents that that isn’t true.

“His bill jumped to $1,500 or $2,000, his bill was in the thousands, in October, November," the Rosendale Democrat said. "He’s still been in touch with the utility to get it corrected and it hasn’t been corrected.”

Metzger has called for Central Hudson’s shareholders to pay for these errors. She says that the cost shouldn’t be on the backs of the company's customers.

“I don’t feel that rate payers should be on the hook for the $21 million of failed rollout of the business system," Metzger said. "That would be a good start.”