More Long Islanders having trouble paying for electricity

The lingering impact of a sour economy continues to weigh on Long Islanders' ability to pay their electric bills, as 2,000 more ratepayers at least 90 days past due have opted for late-payment plans in the past year, and arrears in January for those 30 days past due crept upward.

The number of ratepayers whose accounts were 30 days late in January rose 3.0 percent to 164,028 from 159,251 in January 2009.

Long Island Power Authority officials insisted the recent patterns are within normal levels, noting that bill-payment trends are cyclical and seasonal.

"Storms and cold weather hinder collections," said Bruce Germano, LIPA's vice president for retail services. "What you're seeing more is the cyclical aspect because of seasonality, nothing more."

But observers said the utility's high rates mean big bills and high arrears are likely to become business as usual for the authority, particularly in the face of stagnant salaries and elevated unemployment.

At February's end, LIPA customers were late paying a total of $120.7 million, representing 166,655 residential and 18,656 commercial accounts - or about one of every six customers. That's high, but not a record - those followed spikes in energy prices in 2006, and in 2008's financial meltdown.

Customers whose accounts were at least 90 days past due represent the largest sector of 2010 arrears, a figure Germano said reflects an increase in the number of customers who are on regimented late-payment plans. As of December, about 55,000 customers were on late-payment plans, compared with 53,000 a year ago.

A breakdown of LIPA's billing troubles:

As of January, residential customers were late paying a total of $92.3 million, a jump from $88 million in January 2009. The 164,028 residential customers who were more than 30 days late in January compare with 159,251 in January 2009. The average amount owed jumped to $558.17 in February from $549.82 the same month a year ago.

For the first two months of this year, LIPA shut off the power to 1,328 customers (997 residential and 331 commercial), compared with 1,403 for the first two months of 2009. In 2009, LIPA cut off the juice to 20,834 customers, compared with 19,146 in 2008. The totals include both residential and commercial customers.

"I think they've been working hard at collecting these late bills," Dowling College Business School Dean Matthew Cordaro said of LIPA's efforts to reduce arrears. The problem: "The rates have been consistently high, and that makes it hard for customers to get ahead."

LIPA earlier this month had considered a plan to begin levying a 1.5 percent late fee, as many other utilities do, but rescinded it, citing the economy.