Letter: LIPA would welcome a rival
Esther Mastey shows a bill in which LIPA has charged her as a commercial customer at her Long Beach home Wednesday. (January 25, 2012) Photo by Barry Sloan Credit: Photo by Barry Sloan
In response to "Let LIPA customers buy power from others" [Letters, Feb. 1], it is important to point out that there is no such "no-ESCO policy" that exists at the Long Island Power Authority.
Since 1999, LIPA has encouraged energy service companies (ESCOs) serving residential or commercial customers to operate on Long Island. When the Long Island Choice Program was introduced that year, only one ESCO signed up to serve residential customers, and that one ESCO has since left the LIPA service territory. Now there are no ESCOs willing to serve residential customers, because no ESCO has been able to provide a better price for Long Islanders than what LIPA offers.
On the other hand, LIPA offers Long Island Choice to commercial customers because there are three ESCOs willing to serve our commercial customers. As of last month, more than 2,500 Long Island companies were participating in the Long Island Choice Program. More information and a list of licensed ESCOs is available on LIPA's website at lipower. org/commercial/lichoice/esco. html.
Stating that customers don't have a choice about where they can buy their energy because LIPA prohibits competition is simply false. We welcome any ESCO that can compete with LIPA's prices for residential customers. After all, competition is a good thing, especially if it benefits our customers.
Bruce Germano, Uniondale
Editor's note: The writer is vice president of customer services for LIPA.
