Updated: Feb 11, 2011 04:29 PM
By MARK HARRINGTON
A contingent of Republican state senators led by Sen. Charles Fuschillo has called for a public hearing into reports the Long Island Power Authority overcharged customers $231 million for power LIPA says was “lost” on the system.
“LIPA ratepayers already pay some of the highest utility bills in the country, but yet another LIPA error results in hundreds of millions of dollars unnecessarily taken from their pockets,” Fuschillo (R- Merrick ) said in a statement Friday.
Fuschillo was joined in his statement by Sens. Kenneth LaValle (R- Port Jefferson ), Carl Marcellino (R- Syosset ) and George Maziarz (R-Newfane).
Newsday reported Wednesday the overcharges resulted from a faulty formula for calculating power lost to system inefficiencies before it ever reaches customer meters, and that the overcharges have accumulated during the past several years.
LIPA said the formula has been in use since the Long Island Lighting Co. owned the system in the 1990s. It noted LIPA staff identified the problem and LIPA trustees acted swiftly to determine its extent and correct it.
But lawmakers say LIPA’s measures don’t go far enough and are not swift enough. They note only about half of the amount, $129 million, is being returned through three years of rate cuts, and that the remaining $102 million is being used to offset LIPA losses for 2010 owing to record storm-restoration costs.
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