LIPA critics use hearing to state case

Longtime LIPA critics sharpened their skewers at a hearing Thursday by state regulators preparing a comprehensive audit of the authority.

The state Department of Public Service is on Long Island this week seeking public input to shape the audit. It's the first time the department has asked for public input on such an audit.

Speakers at Thursday's session at Suffolk County Community College's Brentwood campus took aim at LIPA for everything from high rates and questionable finances to its running newspaper ads despite being a "monopoly."

One critic, Peter Quinn, questioned the high percentage of debt service, amortization and interest as a percentage of LIPA's budget -- $640 million of the $3.8 billion budget, or 16 percent -- and suggested LIPA should include solar power in energy planning.

Not everyone was there to poke at LIPA. At the evening session, Public Service Commissioner Pat Acampora, a former state legislator from Mattituck, attended but made no public comments.

In an interview, she said the planned management audit will do LIPA a world of good. "I love the management audit tool," she said, adding that it led to numerous changes at Con Edison and other regulated utilities. "Transparency is always a good thing for ratepayers and the company."

Acampora, a LIPA ratepayer who mailed in her bill Wednesday, said even with PSEG taking over management of the Long Island grid from National Grid much can be learned from the year-long audit. "We all benefit from this," she said.

Matthew Cordaro, co-chairman of the Suffolk Legislature's LIPA Oversight Committee, took aim at LIPA's decision not to fully municipalize after a recent business model review, and noted that LIPA's total debt obligations exceed $10 billion, and accused the authority of financial shenanigans.

"Many times, in attempts to stay within budget and pay the bills, LIPA has relied on accounting manipulations and cash from borrowed funds," he said. "Billing errors are yet another problem for LIPA and the utility has been slow to deal with it."

Ratepayer Rose Van Guilder questioned why the Consumer Protection division has assigned only two staffers to field LIPA complaints from customers, and suggested the agency open a bureau on Long Island. She criticized LIPA's policy of placing ads on TV and in newspapers, including Newsday, saying the ads weren't needed since LIPA had no competition.

"They are a monopoly," she said. "It is not necessary for them to waste the ratepayers' money."

LIPA staff have attended the meetings but have not commented during the sessions.

This story has been changed to clarify that the final hearing was Thursday evening. It has also been changed to reflect that Pat Acampora did not speak publicly at the hearing.