NYSEG and RG&E Hit with $21.4M in Penalties for Poor Customer Service

New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) are facing a combined $21.4 million in penalties after failing to meet state customer satisfaction standards for the second consecutive year.

The New York State Public Service Commission announced Thursday that the utilities fell short of their 2025 customer service performance targets. NYSEG incurred an initial penalty of approximately $6.65 million for failing its Customer Satisfaction Survey metric, which doubled to about $13.3 million due to the repeat failure. Similarly, RG&E's initial penalty of roughly $4.03 million doubled to about $8.06 million.

These penalties, known as negative revenue adjustments, reduce shareholder earnings. Depending on each company's rate plan, the money may be credited automatically to customers or held for future rate cases to offset costs.

Both utilities have petitioned the commission to waive the penalties, citing outside factors such as economic conditions, severe storms, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. They also argued that neutral survey responses should be counted as satisfied, but state officials rejected this approach as inconsistent with approved rate plans.

Overall, the commission assessed approximately $50.1 million in penalties against utilities that missed at least one customer service standard in 2025. Central Hudson, National Grid, and Liberty Utilities were also penalized for shortcomings involving customer satisfaction, complaint rates, or call-answering performance.

Commission Chair Rory Christian emphasized that the penalties are meant to hold utilities accountable and ensure customer service remains a priority.

In contrast, several other utilities, including Corning Natural Gas, Orange and Rockland Utilities, National Fuel Gas Distribution, and Veolia Water New York, met or exceeded their customer service targets.