During the last several months, Central Hudson has received dozens of customer complaints regarding technical issues associated with its new customer information billing system.

Central Hudson officials are apologizing for the stress and confusion it has caused many customers, and are working to find a resolution through an order to show cause.

Shop owner Rebecca Turmo from Jean Turmo in Woodstock has been a Central Hudson customer for decades. She’s kept the same account number for her business up until a few months ago, when that all changed.

“I can't get in online because they change the account number," she said. "They don't send me a hard bill. I keep calling and requesting, then they say, 'Well, they're sending them electronically,' but I never received one email. The only way I can pay them is if I call and sit on hold for half an hour, and I don't have time to do that.”

Turmo said she has had to pay twice over the phone because of the new billing system.

“I’ve now gone through this at least three or four times in the last four months, telling them that they have to send me a bill because basically, they say, ‘OK, well, you haven't paid for two months or three months, and you owe $900.’ Well, let me see the electric usage. ‘Well, that's on your bill.’ Well, then let me have my bill. ‘OK, your bill is being sent to you.’ I still have not received a bill,” said Turmo.

The inconvenience stresses Turmo when she needs to attend to customers.

“Inevitably, when I am on hold with Central Hudson, a customer comes in who I’m trying to wait on, so I can pay my bills, and I’ll say, ‘I’m terribly sorry. I’m on hold with Central Hudson, but here let me hold you and they say 'let me tell you about Central Hudson.' I haven't gotten a bill and such and such, or I got a bill for $500 and no explanation,” said Turmo.

She said something needs to change because it's impacting so many people.

“The stress that they put business owners through because how are we supposed to pay our bill? This stress that people are trying to deal with, their families trying to deal with, their Christmas,” said Turmo.

Other customers like Jan VanBlarcom said Central Hudson has been causing financial hardships in her home as well.

“We don't keep our lights on," VanBlarcom said. "We are so adamant about, my husband does walk around with a flashlight at night, coming up the stairs, going down the stairs. It drives me crazy, and it's very upsetting. But, you know, we just try to keep expenses down.”

Central Hudson sent out the following statement.

“Over the last several months, Central Hudson has fully cooperated with our regulators at the Public Service Commission as they investigated our implementation of a new customer information system. Technical challenges associated with the implementation of this system has caused undue stress and confusion to some of our customers. For that, we are deeply apologetic. As part of the regulatory process, Central Hudson is provided the opportunity to respond to the PSC’s findings through an order to show cause. We will continue to be open and transparent with our regulators as we move through this process. Central Hudson will continue to dedicate significant resources toward resolving any lingering issues with the billing system and find ways to further improve our customer experience.”