BUFFALO, N.Y. — Trying to keep the lights on is sometimes easier said than done.

“It’s a really scary time,” said Luz Velez. “It’s a matter of tight budgeting and realizing that if I don’t control it, I’m going to have to cut down.”

Velez knows firsthand.

“When my kids were smaller, I would tell them, ‘don’t touch the thermostat,'” she said. “If you’re cold, put a hoodie on.”

With National Fuel and National Grid rate hikes already approved by the Public Service Commission, and an up to 48% delivery charge hike proposed by NYSEG and RG&E, she’s not happy.

“These CEOs are making great money. Their stockholders are making great money,” said Velez. “I’m saying to myself, I don’t want to take away from the whole idea of people having what they earn. But let’s be fair.”

NYSEG and RG&E CEO Trish Nilsen says this isn’t about profit.

“From 2015 to 2024, NYSEG received about $990 million more in capital contributions from Avangrid than it’s ever paid out in dividends,” Nilson noted. “RG&E has received 200 million more.”

With negotiations over rates ongoing, what’s approved will likely be a lower, multi-year increase, but a hike, she points out, is necessary.

“As people are more dependent upon electricity, as there’s more push to move energy through the grid, that old equipment can’t cut it,” she said.

From replacing 700,000 electric poles (some dating back 50-plus years), to upgrading substations to just keeping lines clear of trees, all under current inflation rates, there’s a lot to be done.

“The rate case that we’re under doesn’t even cover some of the costs that we’ve been incurring, so storm costs, arrears for unpaid bills, mandated programs that happened while the rates were in effect,” Nilsen explained.

Without hikes, there could be issues.

“Additional customers who want to move and build and grow businesses here will be hampered to be able to do so,” said Nilsen. “Our existing customers will have to manage with, perhaps, present or future issues with reliability.”

Velez, though, is just looking for a bit more breathing room.

“Look at people’s faces and really see the pain and understand that we’re real people. We’re not statistics,” she explained. “You need to understand when we hurt, the quality of the life that you’re going to have is going to be impacted also at some point.”

Velez adds that programs she used to help get more energy-efficient upgrades to her house aren’t around anymore.

With recent reductions in SNAP and shutdown-related pauses for HEAP, which helps cover heating costs, she worries that resources to help will not be as effective as they once were.