 | |
| Company type | Government-owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Energy industry |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Nassau County,Long Island,NY Suffolk CountyLong Island,NY Rockaway,Queens,NY |
Key people | Carrie Meek Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer Tracey Edwards, Chair Board of Trustees |
| Services | Electricity |
| Revenue | $3.6 billion |
| Owner | State of New York (day-to-day operations contracted toPSEG Long Island) |
| Website | lipower psegliny |
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA, "lie-pah") is amunicipal subdivision[1] of theState of New York that owns the electric transmission and electric distribution system serving all ofLong Island and a portion of Queens in New York City known as theRockaways.
LIPA was originally created under the Long Island Power Act of 1985 to acquire theLong Island Lighting Company (LILCO)'s electric and natural gas infrastructure. LIPA acquired LILCO's transmission system in May 1998.[2]
Before 2014, LIPA's electric and natural gas infrastructure was run under its own name, though KeySpan operated its electric and natural gas infrastructure under a prior management contract with LIPA until 2007. KeySpan merged withNational Grid USA in 2007, and National Grid began operating the electric infrastructure portion of LIPA business until 2013.
Since January 1, 2014, LIPA has contracted with New Jersey–basedPublic Service Enterprise Group to operate LIPA's electric infrastructure on LIPA's behalf for a period of 12 years.[3] National Grid handed control of the electric infrastructure portion of LIPA business to PSEG at the close of business on December 31, 2013. KeySpan still operates the natural gas infrastructure on Long Island.
LIPA's Long Island electric system provides service to over 1.2 million customers inNassau andSuffolk counties and theRockaway Peninsula inQueens. LIPA does not own or operate any generation plants or retail natural gas assets on Long Island, although many generation plants are under contract to LIPA to meet its power supply needs. LIPA is listed as the "Owner, Operator and/or Billing Organization" for 27 electric power generation facilities located on Long Island in the 2018NYISO Gold Book, for a total of about 5,048megawatts (MW) of nameplate capacity.[4]
LIPA is run by a 9-member board of trustees. The LIPA management team is headed by John Rhodes who was appointed Acting CEO in March 2024. Tracey Edwards is the chairwoman of LIPA's Board of Trustees, appointed by GovernorKathy Hochul in November 2023.[5]
In 2017, LIPA had operating expenses of $3.214 billion, an outstanding debt of $3.574 billion, and a level of staffing of 54 people.[6] Although Public Service Law Section 3-b grants theNew York State Public Service Commission the ability to review and make recommendations in regards to LIPA's electric retail rates and spending, the NYSPSC does not have the power to set those rates or expenditure levels. It can, however, inspect LIPA's facilities, books, and records.[7] The New York State Public Service Commission runs its own field office on Long Island to enforce this recommendation and inspection capability.
On January 24, 2007, then-governorEliot Spitzer announced that Kevin Law would replaceRichard Kessel as chairman of LIPA until the fall, when a new chairman would be named and Law would become chief executive officer of LIPA.[8] On October 8, 2007, Law took over as president and CEO, but stepped down on September 1, 2010 in order to become the president of theLong Island Association.[9]
LIPA owns electric transmission and distribution lines with the following voltages:
LIPA does not own or operate any generation plants or retail natural gas assets on Long Island, although many generation plants are under contract to LIPA to meet its power supply needs.[citation needed] The following table lists generating resources inNYISO Region K, corresponding to Long Island, with nonzero net energy generated in 2020:[10]
For comparison, Long Island had a peak electric demand of 4,972 MW and New York State had a peak demand of 29,699 MW in 2017.[22]
Most of Long Island's largest power plants are operated byNational Grid, which owns three majorsteam turbine facilities originally constructed by theLong Island Lighting Company (LILCO) in the mid-20th century. In 1998, as part of a state-brokered deal, LILCO's power generation facilities were absorbed intoKeySpan Energy, with LIPA taking over transmission and delivery functions.[23][24] KeySpan was acquired by National Grid in 2007.[25]
Most of the other larger or highly utilized plants are natural gascombined cycle power plants orwaste-to-energy plants constructed by other entities between 1989 and 2009.[10] As of 2021, theSouth Fork Wind Farm project is under construction, and theEmpire Wind andSunrise Wind projects are in planning, all of which are planned to connect to the Long Island power grid.[26]
In addition to locally generated power, LIPA as of 2021 receives about 40% of its power from outside Long Island via theCross Sound Cable,Neptune Cable,Y-49 Cable,Y-50 Cable, andNorthport–Norwalk Harbor Cable.[27] It additionally interconnects withConsolidated Edison's transmission network in New York City via ConEd's901 L&M and903 cables.[28]
The Utility Debt Securitization Authority is a separate New York State public-benefit corporation run by a governor-appointed board of trustees that is responsible for LIPA's financial reporting.[29][30] In 2017, it had operating expenses of $122.2 million, an outstanding debt of $4.262 billion, and a level of staffing of 3 people.[31]
On December 15, 2011, LIPA selectedPublic Service Enterprise Group ofNew Jersey, the largest electric utility of that state, to take over management and operation of the electric grid from National Grid, starting in January 2014.[32]
In 2012 and 2013, LIPA and National Grid caught much media criticism in their response toHurricane Sandy.[33] As a result, key people at LIPA resigned including Michael Hervey, COO of LIPA, who resigned on November 13, 2012[34] and, though not officially confirmed as a response to Sandy, Bruce Germano (VP of customer service) and X. Cristofer Damianos (member of the board of trustees) who resigned on November 27, 2012, and LIPA chairman Howard Steinberg who resigned on November 30, 2012.[35][36]
On January 9, 2013, Governor Cuomo called for the transfer of operations of LIPA in his State of the State speech. Even though the governor appoints five of the nine trustees to serve on the LIPA board, he cited LIPA's inability to quickly recover from Hurricane Sandy among other incidents.[citation needed] In May, he announced a plan to give PSEG day-to-day operations of LIPA's electric grid under a management contract.[37] The Long Island Power Authority is the owner of the system and holder of its debt. On July 29, 2013 the state legislature passed a law implementing Governor Cuomo's plan. On January 1, 2014 PSEG rebranded the LIPA system "PSEG Long Island", effectively removing the LIPA name from the public eye.
The 2013 LIPA Reform Act has been criticized by theNew York State Comptroller for having contributed to a more expensive and less transparent retail electric service provider in LIPA. The comptroller noted that LIPA's debts have risen since its passage and in the case of transparency, noted that PSEG-LI requested three-quarters of rate case plan documents to be kept confidential, even with the New York State Public Service Commission's enhanced review power. The report from the comptroller's office also noted that the new New York State Public Service Commission's Long Island office is costing Long Island rate payers $8 million a year.[38] A bill was introduced in 2016 that would enhance rate setting abilities by the New York State Public Service Commission. It would have also lifted a provision from state law that disallows LIPA from buying cheap hydroelectric energy directly from theNew York Power Authority - see theGreen Island Power Authority for comparison. A news article stated that the governor's office was reviewing the bill.[39]
On May 22, 2025, LIPA announced it would renew its contract withPSEG Long Island. On that date, the LIPA Board of Trustees voted to cancel the ongoing request for proposals (RFP) process and to extend PSEG’s $80 million-per-year management contract, which had been scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.[40]
A special committee of senior LIPA officials had unanimously recommended awarding the contract to Quanta, concluding after a yearlong internal review that Quanta’s proposal offered the “best value to the LIPA customers.”[41] The board voted 6–1 against the recommendation,[42][43] which led to a vote of no confidence in LIPA’s senior leadership by the board.[44]
A Quanta executive stated that the company had initially been assured that there would be “no preferential treatment” for PSEG Long Island, which had operated the electric grid for the previous ten years. The board’s decision to reject staff recommendations was described as a return to a pattern of organizational instability.[42][43] The decision was also characterized as continuing a decades-long history of uncertainty at LIPA.[45]
A 150-page evaluation report produced by the selection committee, which reportedly awarded higher scores to Quanta than to PSEG, has not been made public. According to board documents, Quanta’s contract terms were considered “materially better for customers than the other finalist’s proposal and than the current” agreement with PSEG.[41]
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