State agency delays action on $930 million in LIPA financing

The state Public Authorities Control Board on Wednesday applied the brakes on $930 million in financing for LIPA, citing the need for more information on its impact on ratepayers.

A spokesman for the board, which approves every bond measure by every state authority, declined Wednesday night to say when the PACB would take up the measure again. The board meets monthly and will meet again next month.

The board is “looking for information on how it would affect ratepayers,” said Mike Whyland, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, speaking of the $930 million in financing that LIPA plans for this year. There also were questions about the financing’s impact on “long-term sustainability of LIPA,” Whyland said.

The planned financing includes $400 million in a revolving credit agreement and a $530 million bond offering that the Long Island Power Authority expects to take to market later this year. LIPA spokesman Sid Nathan declined to comment.

A state official following the development called the PACB delay “pretty routine,” adding that LIPA agreed to the delay in light of the “open questions.”

But one LIPA watcher said he’s never seen such a delay.

“I never was personally aware of this occurring in the past and this is all news to me,” said LIPA trustee Matthew Cordaro, an Assembly appointee who was reappointed by Heastie to a four-year term last month.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.