In August 2023, it was discovered that City of Livingston officials had overcollected on utility bills from the citizens of Livingston by overcharging them for electricity services, far beyond what is allowable, fair, and reasonable. After several failed attempts during meetings with our local elected or appointed officials to have them correct their rather drastic oversight and being ignored, I and several other concerned citizens formed a non-profit to gather signatures from the citizens of Livingston to petition the Public Utility Commission to help us figure out what the city had done, why, and what they were doing with tens of millions of recovered funds.
Instead of addressing their citizens' concerns, or learning how utilities actually are supposed to work, the City engaged outside counsel and began fighting its citizens at the state level. It appears, for now, that their tactic has paid off and the case may likely be dimissed from the Commission based on jurisdictional grounds. That leaves the 310 citizens who signed the petition, and the other 5,000 plus citizens without answers.
However, our fight doesn't stop there. Should the case be dismissed at the Commission in March, we will be looking into civil remedies to ensure our citizens get the answers and, hopefully, the refunds they deserve.
Nevertheless, since the City has asserted that the Commission lacks jurisdiction to hear this case at the state level because citizens have recourse through the ballot box, we will most certainly be taking our fight directly to the ballot box on November 5th, 2024! Leaders who not only ignore their citizens but actively fight against them have no place in positions of power!
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