Letters

After its two-year pilot, Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) had saved 130,000 utility ratepayers in Westchester County $15 million. And CCA continues to save money for ratepayers not only in Westchester but elsewhere in New York State and in the United States where CCA programs exist.

As the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has stated that having a CCA program is the single best action a municipality can take to reduce greenhouse gases and thwart the effects of climate change. Over 140 municipalities in New York State have taken steps to launch CCAs, including five on Long Island. However, on Long Island, the Long Island Power Authority has been impairing implementation of CCA.

It has, as State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor has stated, stuck “a poison pill” into Long Island having CCA. It’s done that by placing CCA under LIPA’s “Long Island Choice” program that would include — as Mr. Thiele notes — a “surcharge” for those who sign up to be members of a CCA.

LIPA claims that this is because of long-term contracts it signed more than a decade ago to meet a state requirement to get most of its electricity from sources within the LIPA service area. This is a fundamental reason for the high cost of electricity for LIPA ratepayers. LIPA also claims that its ratepayers not in CCA programs would pay higher prices if CCAs set up on Long Island were allowed to bypass these agreements.

Is this a real obstacle or is it obstructionism?

Brookhaven and Southampton towns have filed a New York State Freedom of Information Law request to get details on these contracts.

Meanwhile, LIPA has announced its intention to establish two new categories of power supply charges. That move would codify and eliminate the potential for a competitive market for electricity on Long Island.

This past December, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill authored by Assemblyman Thiele providing the State Public Service Commission (PSC) with the authority to audit LIPA when mismanagement is suspected. Few Long Islanders know that, unlike the rest of New York State, where utilities are subject to PSC oversight, LIPA was not.

It appears that this pricing obstacle cited by LIPA is the perfect opportunity for the PSC to exercise its new regulatory authority and help consumers answer the question, “Obstacle or obstructionism?”

Lynn Arthur

North Sea

Ms. Arthur is the founder of Peak Power LI, a Southampton-based not-for-profit — Ed.