Long Island ratepayers deserve answers

For years, Long Islanders have endured PSEG's missteps and the LIPA Board's failures in holding them accountable. From the chaos of Tropical Storm Isaias to repeated underperformance on customer service and safety, we've seen firsthand how a lack of appropriate oversight leaves communities vulnerable. But the latest episode is the most troubling yet.

After a yearlong review, Long Island Power Authority senior staff strongly recommended selecting Quanta to replace PSEG Long Island as the region's utility operator. Yet the LIPA Board rejected that recommendation, canceled the procurement altogether, and chose to extend PSEG's contract for another five years. No consistent explanation was offered to the public.

It has since been revealed that the process wasn't merely flawed; it was riddled with improprieties.

First, we now know that multiple thick folders filled with articles tying Quanta to unrelated problems with Puerto Rico's grid were handed out to trustees just days before the final vote. These materials appeared after the last and final bids from Quanta and PSEG were submitted, leaving no chance for bidders to respond.

Next, a former senior vice president revealed that he was pressured on five different occasions to lower Quanta's score during the review process. He refused and was told that he was "in the crosshairs" for resisting pressure to lower scores. And recently, he was fired over the phone after he refused again to sign off on new — and lower — performance metrics for PSEG. LIPA last week internally disclosed that acting Chief Operating Officer Werner Schweiger, one of LIPA's most experienced officials and highest-level executives, would see his position eliminated on Dec. 31 of this year.

Meanwhile, LIPA continues to advance the PSEG contract extension as if the controversy never happened.

We served on the LIPA Board for 10 years. We understand the gravity of these decisions. To override staff recommendations without transparency, and under a cloud of ethical complaints, is unlike anything we witnessed in our tenure. It violates the public trust and raises the specter of undue influence in a process worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Long Island ratepayers should be asking the tough questions.

Where did these folders come from? Who compiled them? And why were they introduced at the 11th hour? Why did the board reject the staff's recommendation? Why were LIPA staff members pressured to lower the scores of the bidder that ultimately received a strong recommendation — an unlawful action that deeply violates the integrity of the procurement process? And ultimately, why did LIPA feel the need to replace Holland & Knight, the law firm conducting an internal ethics probe?

Until those questions are answered, the LIPA Board cannot credibly claim it acted in the public's interest.

Ratepayers deserve a grid operator chosen on merit. This is about more than one contract. It is about whether Long Island's energy future is governed by facts and fairness.

And now, as the contract receives final scrutiny from New York State's comptroller, coupled with an ongoing investigation by the New York inspector general, we urge that these important issues be investigated thoroughly.

The people of Long Island deserve better. And they should demand nothing less.

This guest essay reflects the views of former LIPA acting board Chair Mark Fischl and former LIPA Finance and Audit Committee Chair Sheldon L. Cohen.