State Sen. Darrel Aubertine, after speaking with National Grid company executives and taking them to task for egregious errors in their latest rate filing request, is calling on National grid to resolve questionable accounting practices and refocus on providing affordable, reliable energy to the people of New York.

“It is significant that National Grid’s U.S. President Tom King says he is committed to rebuilding public confidence in how the company operates, but it is my understanding that the staff at the PSC believes an additional $27 to $30 million has been wrongly charged to ratepayers. These expenses should be set aside from the current filing until a full audit is complete. At that point the appropriateness of these millions of dollars can be reviewed,” Sen. Aubertine said.

“High energy bills will have a negative impact on our economy in Central and Northern New York and unnecessary costs must be avoided.”

The New York State Public Service Commission is the agency charged with reviewing and approving all utility rate hikes. The senator said that after finding claims for shipping wine, child care and other inappropriate costs covered in its rate hike request, the company needs to do more to restore trust beyond just an internal review of all U.S. operations and reducing that request by nearly $4.2 million.

“Mistakes National Grid has admitted it made in its rate case filing and reports of extravagant spending are of great concern to me, as ratepayers do not deserve to bear the cost of these mistakes. National Grid needs to do more to earn the trust of their customers in light of these errors,” Sen. Aubertine said.