In theory, the process that determines your energy bills plays out in public, through innumerable documents and comments posted online and hearings that are open to all.

In practice, watchdogs say, the key decisions are made behind closed doors, in confidential settlement proceedings where utilities set the agenda and bring legal firepower that is impossible for most other participants to match.

That secretive settlement process was a flashpoint at a state Senate hearing Tuesday on spiraling energy bills. Over the course of the day, senators questioned state and city officials, advocates, and utility representatives about the state’s energy policies and reforms that could rein in price hikes.

On Tuesday, the New York City Council held an emergency oversight hearing in response to New York Focus reporting that the police department had covertly used a free internet program to gain real-time access to video cameras at New York City Housing Authority developments.

Lawmakers on the technology, public safety, public housing, and oversight and investigations committees grilled officials from the Office of Technology and Innovation, the New York City Police Department, and NYCHA.

Here’s what we learned.

n one of his first acts as an officially lame duck mayor, Eric Adams announced on Monday that he’s extending a controversial tech program well into his successor’s tenure — just a day before four City Council committees are set to hold a joint oversight hearing on it.

Adams issued a press release Monday morning announcing the three-year renewal of Big Apple Connect, which currently provides free internet to 330,000 public housing residents. New York Focus reported last month that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is using the program as a backdoor for undisclosed live video surveillance at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, and city legislators are set to grill the administration on the covert surveillance expansion tomorrow.

“The Mayor’s decision to expand this program just one day before a scheduled Council oversight hearing is not just disrespectful, it’s a deliberate effort to undermine the communities we represent,” Councilmember Chris Banks, who chairs the body’s public housing committee, said in a statement.