Rate cut, late fee approved in LIPA budget

Long Island Power Authority trustees Thursday approved a 2011 budget that cuts rates an average 2.2 percent and imposes a 1.5 percent fee on customers more than 23 days late paying their bill.

The new budget, which takes effect in January, means typical residential LIPA bills will drop by around $3.30 a month - to their lowest level since 2007, LIPA said.

Public hearings on the budget were lightly attended, with the most opposition focused on the late fee.

Around one-fifth of LIPA customers are late paying their bills, and some said the fee would only put a further burden on those who are unable to pay. LIPA was one of the few utilities that didn't charge such a fee.

Vanessa Baird-Streeter, a LIPA spokeswoman, said budget discussions during Thursday's session included questions about the amount of money LIPA is devoting to the massive wind-farm project it is planning with Con Ed and the New York Power Authority.

Next year's budget includes around $500,000 for the Rockaway project, an amount LIPA officials acknowledged was small, though they noted LIPA partners will also be devoting funds. Estimates of the eventual cost of the project, targeted for completion by 2017, are $2 billion to $6 billion, Newsday has reported.

Though overall rates will drop, not all of an electric bill's components will.

The 2011 budget includes a 1.9 percent increase in LIPA's delivery charge, the first such increase since LIPA formed in 1998. Customers will see it as an increase in the fixed portion of the charge, from around $5 a month to just over $8.

Unlike the power supply charge, which is decreasing 4.8 percent, the delivery charge increase won't be impacted by increased usage.

LIPA is also increasing its spending on renewable energy and efficiency programs.