Cuthbertson Wants Huntingtonian on LIPA Board

Councilman Mark Cuthbertson Tuesday said he wants  Gov. Andrew Cuomo to appoint a Town of Huntington resident to a vacancy on the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Board of Trustees.

"As Huntington gears up to defend itself in a lawsuit filed by this public utility, it is imperative that our voices and concerns are heard and understood by the Board of Trustees," Cuthbertson said. "The governor has the sole authority to fill two current vacancies and I respectfully call on him to give Huntington a seat at the LIPA trustee table – a table that is woefully lacking proper representation for Suffolk County residents."

This past October, LIPA filed a challenge to the assessed value of the Northport Power Plant. LIPA contends that the Northport power plant is  over-assessed and wants to reduce it, thereby seriously reducing its tax bill.

"If LIPA prevails in court, the financial impacts for Huntington residents would be catastrophic,"  Cuthbertson said. "Those hardest hit would be homeowners living within the North-East Northport School District. It's most unfortunate that the LIPA Board of Trustees have reneged on a longstanding promise not to challenge the assessment of the Northport Power Plant. We need to have our voices heard because the existing trustees are not listening."

Another reason for greater oversight is the recent disclosure by LIPA that it overcharged ratepayers $231 million because it used a faulty formula. Earlier this month, LIPA said a formula used to cover the costs of power that seeps out of the electric grid was outdated and led to the overcharging of customers.

"LIPA spends more than $2 million annually on outside accounts and auditors and it's simply unacceptable that a $231 million mistake was not detected," Councilman Cuthbertson said. "All of this money needs to be returned to the ratepayers who were overcharged."

LIPA is overseen by a 14-member board appointed by the governor, speaker of the State Assembly and the Senate majority leader.  Cuthbertson's office said that four of the trustees live in Suffolk County.