Village: Cold Has Led to High Electric Prices

Electric bills continue to spark outrage in Greenport Village.

On Thursday, the village posted a letter to residents on its website, explaining that the cost of purchased power in October, reflected in the December bill, was "unusually high," and in addition, "an error in billing" was uncovered, which would be rectified in the February bill.

The cost of purchased power was lower in December, which is reflected in the February bill, according to the letter. 

To correct the error in October, the village is making a downward adjustment of 0.017 per kilowatt hour to the purchased power adjustment. Together with the lower cost of power, the village said, the purchased power on the February bill is 0.003772 per kilowatt hour.

However, the village warned that residents should expect "continued volatility" in purchased power costs, with cold weather in January sparking very high prices.

While the village said base rates have remained the same, it is purchased power costs that have changed due to the state's "deregulated market for electricity."

In January, Mayor David Nyce outlined the reasons for the spike at a village board meeting.