LI ratepayers to hear LIPA overhaul plan

LIPA ratepayers will get a chance next week to hear directly from senior administration officials about Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's plan to overhaul the utility at two meetings scheduled for Long Island.

The administration Friday said the meetings will be held Wednesday and Thursday, one in Nassau and the other in Suffolk.

Senior officials from the Cuomo administration, the Moreland Commission -- which was empaneled by Cuomo to review utilities' performance after superstorm Sandy -- and PSEG, the New Jersey company that will take over operation of the Long Island power grid in January, will be on hand to discuss the proposal, a Cuomo spokesman said.

The Nassau meeting will be held Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room of SUNY Old Westbury's Student Union, 223 Store Hill Rd., Old Westbury.

The Suffolk meeting will be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Western Suffolk BOCES Conference Center, 31 Lee Ave., Wheatley Heights.

The meetings will provide Long Islanders an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback. The administration asks for advance notice from those who will attend: Send an email to RSVP.LI@exec.ny.gov.

Reception to Cuomo's plan, which would sharply reduce the scope of the Long Island Power Authority and its board, turn over most of its operations to PSEG and give the state Public Service Commission a local office to monitor operations, has been mixed. Critics say it gives LIPA less oversight than currently exists; proponents say the time is now to reform LIPA.

"The governor is committed to establishing a new Long Island utility that actually works for the people of Long Island," Cuomo spokesman Matthew Wing said.

Assemb. Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor), who has said he would not vote for the proposed legislation in its current form because it weakens LIPA oversight, applauded the plan for public meetings. "I think it's an important step in the process," he said."Hopefully, these meetings are open and do a lot for the free exchange of ideas."

Separately Friday, Huntington Town and the East Northport School District said their lawsuit seeking to force LIPA to drop its tax challenge of the Northport power plant has cleared a court hurdle.

A State Supreme Court justice rejected LIPA's request to dismiss the suit, which charges that LIPA's tax challenge violates a 1997 letter agreement by former LIPA chairman Richard Kessel promising not to grieve taxes on the plant.