Thiele pushes, PSEG-LI pushes back
While PSEG-LI pushes ahead with an effort to gain an increase in charges to its customers based on hikes in transportation costs, Assemblyman Fred Thiele Jr. (I-Sag Harbor) continues his campaign to force the utility to reveal more financial information.Mr. Thiele said today he’s introducing legislation requiring PSEG-LI to provide the Long Island Office of the Department of Public Service with information on all compensation. That includes executive pay and all fees paid to consultants and contractors in connection with the utility company’s contract with the Long Island Power Authority.
While the DPS has no decision-making authority over electric rates, it does make recommendations to LIPA about rate petitions, Mr. Thiele said. He has been calling for oversight of PSEG-LI, arguing that the state Public Service Commission — a seperate entity from the DPS — oversees other utilities.
“My bill would amend the LIPA Reform Act to insure that such information is available for public scrutiny,” Mr. Thiele said, explaining it would enable the DPS to review information on PSEG-LI finances that would inform its recommendations to LIPA.
PSEG has proposed an approximate 2 percent increase in aggregate annual electric revenues, according to material provided by the DPS. If granted, the result would amount to about a 4 percent increase to the delivery charge portion of customer’s bills for each of the next three years, the statement said.
“The people’s right to review the documents and information related to the operation of its utility company should be obvious in a democratic society,” the legislator said.
Last week, PSEG-LI refused to make public the compensation of its top 18 executives, maintaining the information is exempt from state scrutiny or public disclosure under the LIPA Reform Act of 2013.
PSEG-LI has been accused of hindering scrutiny of its three-year rate request by failing to respond to more than two dozen separate information requests from the DPS.
The contract between the PSEG-LI and LIPA has a 12-year life and was set at $45 million, but would increase to $73 million in 2016, Mr. Thiele said.
He was referring to a statement issued by an independent administrative law judge appointed in the rate hike request case who has said many of 28 information requests haven’t been answered within a “normal 10-day response time” with many outstanding by as much as 27 days.
A check of DPS files revealed that a March 6 telephone conversation with PSEG-LI officials and administrative law judges David Van Ort and Michelle Phillips had determined there were several discovery requests made by DPS to either PSEG Long Island or LIPA that were still outstanding.
At the same time, the record showed that “significant progress had been made in reducing the number of outstanding information requests.”
Both PSEG-LI and LIPA were ordered to respond to the outstanding requests or submit information on why it sought protection from being required to disclose certain information.
PSEG-LI and LIPA were ordered to respond by March 6 or to file objections by March 9. The record shows there were several filings by PSEG requesting that information be kept confidential.
Records through March 20 reveal that some requested information was supplied by PSEG-LI, but with a request that it be kept confidential because it wold provide an unfair competitive advantage to others in the field if it were made public.
Just how much more information is still outstanding from DPS requests isn’t clear.
As for any relation between executive salaries and rates, PSEG-LI Director of Communications Jeffrey Weir said the management fee is fixed and is “performance based” with 21 utility industry metrics closely monitored by both LIPA and DPS.
“If PSEG Long Island fails to perform, there are significant penalties that are incurred, up to and including termination of the contract without a termination fee,” Mr. Weir said.
As for the compensation to those top 18 PSEG executives, Mr. Weir said they’re paid out of the fixed management fee and any increase in salaries would come from that fixed fee, not from ratepayers.
As with other companies, PSEG, in its proxy statement, has disclosed the compensation of its five highest paid employees, Mr. Weir said. But no one on the PSEG-LI management team falls into that category, he said. At the same time, PSEG-LI has “competitively benchmarked” against similar jobs in the industry.
