WARRENSBURG, N.Y. (WRGB) — The owner of Lizzie Keays Kitchen and Cocktails paid his National Grid bill in November of 2025 and hasn’t received one since. The lights are still on, but the energy is not being supplied for free.
“They keep giving me the runaround. I’ve reached out to them multiple times every month, and they just keep pushing it off,” said chef-owner Billy Trudsoe. “I’ve heard horror stories of restaurants and other businesses in the area having a $10,000, $20,000, even a $30,000 bill from National Grid. I don’t know where I’m going to be able to come up with the funds to be able to pay.”
Last winter was the restaurant’s first winter staying open. December went, and then January came with no bill in sight. So, he called at least ten times.
“When I first spoke to someone, they were like, ‘Oh, just don’t worry, you know. We’re going to pay for the three months because there’s some sort of law.’ Then they’re going to get that in writing, and email that to me and they never did,” described Trudsoe.
That law would be from 2024’s Senate Bill 8012. Greg Rinckey, one of the founding partners of Tully Rinckey PLLC, has represented a handful of clients in similar situations and explained to CBS6’s Anthony Krolikowski how that can protect small businesses and homeowners.
“Utilities can’t back-bill for more than three months from the end of the last period,” stated Rinckey. “Normally it’s a monthly period. Some businesses don’t get billed every month. Some businesses, especially larger businesses, sometimes get billed every several months.”
According to the law, seasonal and short-term customers are exempt from its protections. The chef-owner said Lizzie Keays is technically a year-round business but this was his first winter open. Also, the small business would have to use less than or equal to 750 dekatherms, about 220,000 kilowatt hours, per year.
National Grid installed two new meters at the restaurant in November and December when Trudsoe’s monthly bills stopped coming.
He’s not alone.
Trudsoe’s accountant, John J. Davis, has clients in Glens Falls whose businesses have been blindsided after going months without an electric bill. He advises anyone also experiencing this to call National Grid, take note of everything, and make a formal complaint to the Public Service Commission.
“One restaurant in Glens Falls (Downtown City Tavern) received a $34,000 bill after about four months of no invoices at all. They were told that they had to pay at least 50% of that in order to avoid a disconnect,” explained Davis.
When asked about Lizzie Keays’s bill, National Grid responded with the following statement:
“We understand the concern that not receiving a bill in a timely fashion can cause for customers. National Grid serves approximately 1.7 million customers in upstate New York and issues more than 20 million bills each year. While we are committed to providing accurate and timely billing, in this instance, that standard was not met. As part of our typical meter testing procedures, the Company replaced the customer’s meter. However, the change was not properly captured in the billing system, resulting in a multi-month bill delay. The issue has since been corrected, and the customer is expected to receive an updated bill this month.
We recognize that receiving a bill covering several months at once can be difficult. In such situations, we are committed to working with customers to identify flexible payment arrangements that spread the balance for the energy used during the unbilled period into smaller, more manageable installments over time. We encourage any customer who believes there may be an issue with their bill or who is not receiving a bill to contact us, and we are committed to working with them to review and resolve any concerns.”
