Some Rockville Centre residents are frustrated by what they say are extremely high surcharges on their utility bills.

Carylon Bivona, who has lived in the village for nearly two decades, says she received her electric bill in the spring with a letter stating that there would be a "fuel adjustment surcharge" added to her statements.

In recent months, she says the added fee nearly matches the same amount as her base rate electric bill.

"I still refuse to pay the fuel surcharge," Bivona says. "I will pay my bill, which I have done every time it has come, but I had to question these bills over the summer and why we are getting them."

Earlier this week, she got the electric shutoff notice in the mail after refusing to pay her $786 fuel adjustment surcharge.

According to the village, there are two parts to their electric bill - the base rate and fuel adjustment surcharge. They say the base rate control by the Rockville Centre Electric Department has not increased in 12 years.

Bivona says the mayor told her that they have to get fuel or electricity from other resources.

"Why aren't we making our own electric in our town when we have our own power plant?" Bivona says. "That's what you sold to us."

The village held a public meeting regarding the topic.

Village trustee Emilio Grillo says fuel costs have risen dramatically in the past year due to economic factors - saying the production of power is outside the village's control and has caused an increase in recent bills.

The villages' power demands are met by hydropower purchased from Niagara, New York.

At the time, village leadership negotiated the purchase of hydropower because it was inexpensive to generate. This remains true today.

The board says they cannot compare bills to neighboring towns.

They say PSEG is a larger utility and can purchase power far in advance of their user demand and their customers will not see a dramatic spikes. But they say it will be there over time.

The villages say they offer a payment plan.

The board says after listening to neighbors, they are going to look for ways to upgrade their electric infrastructure to make it cheaper and greener.