LIPA Bills to Drop 4% Through a Power Supply Charge Reduction of 7.6%
Reduction Effective October 16th
LIPA Seeks to Hold Reduction Through 2007
Uniondale, NY – October 4, 2006 – Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Chairman, Richard M. Kessel, today announced that starting October 16th LIPA’s electric bills would drop by 4% as a result of a 7.6% reduction in its Power Supply Charge.
For a typical residential customer using 775 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per month, the bill reduction will produce a monthly savings of $6.20 and total savings of $93 over the next 15 months through the end of 2007. A commercial customer using 8,800 kWh per month could see a savings of about $70 per month or $1,050 over 15 months.
Mr. Kessel said that the reduction in LIPA’s bills, by lowering its Power Supply Charge, is made possible by recent drops in the costs for fuel and purchased power, and the prospect that these costs will remain lower going forward.
“I’m extremely pleased that we can lower our bills through a reduction in the Power Supply Charge,” said Mr. Kessel. “The historic increases in the cost of oil and natural gas in recent years have forced LIPA to pass along some of those increases to customers. With the recent reductions in those costs, LIPA’s costs for fuel and purchased power are
reduced. In turn, we can pass along these savings to our residential and commercial customers.”
Mr. Kessel noted that LIPA did not increase any of its rates and charges during 2006 and actually reduced them by 1%. He added that the goal is to maintain the bill and power supply reduction through 2007, and if oil and gas prices continue to drop LIPA would reassess bills again early next year for possible further reductions.
“It’s important for customers to understand that LIPA does not control the oil and natural gas markets. LIPA merely passes on increases or decreases depending upon the world-wide market price of oil and natural gas,” said Mr. Kessel. “We certainly hope that going forward the reduction in the Power Supply Charge will help offset some of the higher
usage customers experienced this summer as a result of the July and August heat waves.”
Earlier this year, LIPA provided its customers with a new billing statement configuration that segregated the charges for delivering electricity to customers and those for the commodity. LIPA’s Delivery & System Charges cover costs associated with operating and maintaining LIPA’s electric Transmission and Distribution System. The Power Supply
Charges cover costs associated with the price of oil, natural gas and purchased power.
While LIPA is lowering its Power Supply Charge by 7.6%, its Delivery & System Charge will remain unchanged.
Customers who have any questions about their bills should call LIPA’s Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-490-0025.
LIPA’s Web site, www.lipower.org, has a wealth of information that can help customers save on their electricity costs by utilizing some easy-to-follow energy efficiency recommendations.
LIPA, a non-profit municipal electric utility, owns the retail electric Transmission and Distribution System (T&D) on Long Island and provides electric service to over 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. In terms of customers served, LIPA is the 3rd largest municipal electric utility in the nation
and the 6th largest in terms of electricity delivered. LIPA does not provide natural gas service or own any on-island electric generation assets.
LIPA Contact Information:
Media Relations: (516) 719-9892
Media Pager: (516) 525-LIPA
media.relations@lipower.org
LIPA News Center
http://www.lipower.org/newscenter
