POUGHKEEPSIE – Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha (D-103) renewed her call to take over Central Hudson at a voter rally on Sunday in Poughkeepsie. The Democratic Socialist from Esopus wants the state to take over Central Hudson under the Hudson Valley Power Authority (HVPA). When she first announced it, Shrestha came under fire from several local trade unions whose members would lose jobs under her plan.
Assemblywoman Shrestha previously said creating the non-profit HVPA would bring substantial savings to the operation and its ratepayers. “If you would do that, even accounting for startup costs like no regulatory costs, legal costs, consulting fees, HVPA would save $15.2 million in the first year, and that is assuming all of the money Central Hudson already wants to spend to these recent rate cases, but then the savings would be every year.”
On Sunday night at the Bardavon, Shrestha said, “Energy should be not-for-profit. We’re going to reclaim power from corporations and put it back into our homes.”
The freshman lawmaker also touched on races in other states, including Florida and Michigan. “We’re sending new Democratic Socialists to Congress from New York State, from Colorado, and from Pennsylvania.” Shrestha reminded the audience that she was the first Democratic Socialist elected to the legislature outside New York City, and that she did so here in the Hudson Valley.
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