LIPA staff continues to decline

The number of employees at the Long Island Power Authority declined again last year, dropping to 52 in 2014 from 111 in 2013. Those 52 employees were paid $5.4 million last year, down 53 percent from the authority’s total payroll in 2013.

And of those 52 employees, 15 left during the year, eight of them in the power markets department and four in the office of the general counsel.

The authority has brought on three new employees so far this year: Jon Mostel, general counsel and secretary, at $240,000 a year; Michael Simione, director of transmission and distribution operations, at $160,000; and Joseph Weiner, assistant general counsel, at $140,000.

The decline in staff size continues a trend noted during 2013, a year in which 44 employees left. The downsizing is the result of the LIPA Reform Act.

To search through employees and their salaries over a four-year period, click here. LIPA salaries are a public record and were obtained from the authority under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.