Energy fund applicants question supporters' backing

After Long Island lost out last month on an eight-town application for $40 million in federal stimulus funds for energy-saving home retrofits, some are questioning why two key Long Island backers also gave support to a competing statewide proposal.

The state’s original $75 million request was ultimately granted at $40 million. More than 60 percent is set aside for New York City.

While the Long Island Power Authority wrote a letter in support of the eight-town Long Island Green Homes Consortium, it also wrote a letter supporting the state proposal, and declined a request to be the lead agency applying for the federal funds, said Marianne Garvin, chief executive of the Community Development Corp., a nonprofit that became the lead agency in the consortium.

“In an ideal world, both proposals would have been funded,” Garvin said.

In addition, Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington), while signing a Long Island congressional delegation letter in support of the Long Island Green Homes Consortium, discouraged Long Island towns from submitting a separate bid, urging instead that they join the state’s application, which he backed. The Long Island coalition rejected the idea.

In an e-mail, Israel said he has “long advocated for all levels of government and all institutions in New York to cooperate instead of competing when seeking federal funding.”

Still, LIPA dual support “did catch us a little by surprise,” said Neal Lewis, a LIPA trustee and executive director of the Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, a leader of the consortium.

“LIPA kind of undermined our position. I had real problems with their letter \[supporting the state application\] and felt it should not have been sent.”

Islip Town Councilman John Edwards, a key participant in the Long Island Consortium, described himself as a “big fan of Steve Israel,” and said, “I think he saw the New York State opportunity for whatever reason as the horse he was going to back.”

Edwards called the consortium’s application rejection “a real disappointment,” saying, “I think we could have made a tremendous impact if we had been the primary recipient.”

Israel advised the Long Island Consortium to work with the state application “because the chances of getting funded were better. They opted to compete for the funding with their own application. I fully supported their efforts,” Israel said.

LIPA said it offered its support to the state application because the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the state agency that filed it, was a “sister” organization, and because some of the funds were targeted for small and large towns throughout the state, including Long Island.