LIPA…Literally A Cut-Rate Power Authority: Some Good News For Long Island Residents

Taking a cut in salary or having our boss cut back our hours is not something most of us look forward to. However, a cut in costs is something we all aspire to. And, with the increasing cost of heating or cooling our homes, who couldn’t use a break?

Well, now many of us may just be getting the “break” we’ve been looking for. According to the new LIPA chairman, who is staunch on rectifying the biggest complaint about the company, Long Islanders can look forward to a 2 percent rate cut that should lower the average electric bill by $3 monthly.

And, this reduction, totaling a 4 percent decrease in the power-supply portion of bills goes into effect February 1.

The measure, notes the company comes on the heels of increasing numbers of consumers who are late paying their bills and some who’ve had their electricity turned off as a result of non-payment. In fact, the statistics are “staggering” with reports revealing over 219,000 customers being at least a month behind in paying their bill and nearly 20,000 having power cut off just this past year. And, sadly enough, these numbers continued to rise, along with the rise in electricity rates.

Still, the measure, which was touted to take place back in October, was criticized as “a day late and a buck short” for many Long Islanders

But, local utility officials applaud the effort noting that other utilities continue to raise rated and that LIPA’s rates are consistently below those of Con Edison. And, they added that they would continue to investigate other means of further cutting costs.