By Liz Page
GILBOA – There were a few extra people present for the monthly meeting of the Gilboa Town Board on Monday as Arthur Klinger addressed New York State Electric & Gas Company outages and bill increases.
Klinger is the municipal and community relations manager for NYSEG's Oneonta district., which covers more than 3,000 square miles, has 94,000 customers and 74 substations.
Klinger was invited to speak due to the number and length of time of outages in the town of Gilboa over the past year. He also addressed the new smart meters everyone will be having installed.
The Oneonta district is one of the last to have the smart meters installed, according to Klinger, which he believes is a good thing. Hopefully most of the glitches have been ironed out by the previous installations. He said they will make life simpler for him, both as a public relations person and as a customer.
He went on to explain how electric bills are compiled. NYSEG alternates between actual readings and estimated readings. The estimated readings are based on electric usage from the same month last year, which accounts for some of the increase in billings. Last winter was much milder, so the estimated readings are probably lower than each household's actual usage has been this winter. There is generally increased usage of lights and equipment during the winter months and this winter some people may have had their furnaces turning on more often, their lights turned on longer or they may have used some supplemental heat, such as portable heaters. All of it adds up to higher usage. So if the estimated reading is low by comparison, the catchup bill will be higher than anticipated.
NYSEG has to predict how much energy it will need and provide that estimate for how much energy it will need to purchase for the coming. Prepaid power is cheaper than on-demand power, so that also increased the bills. However, they are not allowed to over-do it. Because it has been such a harsh winter, Klinger said the company didn't estimate high enough, so more energy is now being purchased at the higher rate. Greater usage at a higher rate is another reason behind higher bills.
He said this winter was 15 percent colder than the winter of 2024.
Another rate increase is due on May 3, the final year of a three-year plan. He anticipates they will ask for another increase in the next plan and it is up to the Public Service Commission how much of an increase will be granted.
As for the outages, he pointed to an area in Grand Gorge where there is no access to the lines by road, so any repairs have to be made by manpower carrying in whatever is needed for the repairs, which takes much longer. He also said there have been a lot of trees on wire outages and while they do now have a maintenance plan to cut trees away from the lines, they haven't caught up. There is a 6-year plan. When they get through once, they turn around and start over. He said they are still playing catch up. There have been a number of storms and a lot of high winds to bring trees and wires together. He also points to aging infrastructure that breaks down under stress. He said the Grand Gorge trouble spot is frustrating not only to the customers, but the crews because it takes them too long to restore the power.
He said they now cut all of the vegetation within the right of way and further if they can get a private landowner's permission. However, it is difficult to keep up with the number of dying ash trees.
Heidi Pickett asked why there wasn't a plan in place to provide access to the problem area or to move the lines. Klinger said it is a difficult process to gain rights of way from every property owner to move the lines or provide access.
He said the Smart Meters are coming in the near future. Grid One is the contractor and the employees will have badges. If you have an outside meter, they will replace it with a smart meter without anyone needing to be present. If you have an inside meter and you don't already have a plan for them to enter to get a meter reading, someone 15 years of age or older will need to be present to let the installers in.
Klinger said that whatever type of meter you have now, will be replaced with a smart meter. People with solar panels have a different meter than a standard household and on-demand and others will also be replaced with a meter that will continue to provide the reading for whatever situation the homeowner has.
While some have based their major increases to Smart Meters, he said they have not been installed in this area yet. Homeowners will remain hooked to the existing system until they are sure all the glitches are out of the switched-over systems.
Some of the advantages of the Smart Meters is that it will notify NYSEG immediately when power is out at your home.
It will become more automated, but due to the lack of reliable cell and phone services in the region, there are glitches and there can be some inaccurate readings. Klinger said they are aware and this will be monitored once the new smart meters are in place. You can opt out of the new meters, but it will cost an extra $30-plus dollars. Information is available on the NYSEG website.
The town received five lawn mowing bids which includes the town hall and several cemeteries. The low bid of $5,000 was awarded to Windy Ridge Property Maintenance with the condition they produce insurance and non-collusive bidding application.
Town resident and a fire commissioner with the Stamford Joint Fire District, Bill Sharick, was present to address issues with EMS dispatch between the counties of Delaware and Schoharie. A recent call made by neighbors and relatives for a 95-year-old male having a medical issue resulted in confusion over dispatching. Headwaters Emergency Medical Service responded to the call, but Sharick said there is still confusion over when they can be called. Because one of the calls went to Schoharie County, the Schoharie County ambulance was dispatched, along with Stamford first responders. Sharick said the problem was that sorting out the call and its location took time to sort out. "I see that there are two problems that we continue to have between Schoharie County and Delaware County dispatch and how it all takes place to get an ambulance. This is a concern to me and other residents in the town of Gilboa. Schoharie County needs to make arrangements for Headwaters to be dispatched immediately to a call."
Supervisor Terry said she would like to get all the parties involved to sit down together to see the best way to resolve the issues.
It was also noted there has been an election law update.
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