Only after Superstorm Sandy slammed Long Island did the governor finally take a serious look at the Long Island Power Authority in search of a solution to its longtime problems. … [More]

When Superstorm Sandy battered Long Island and shut down power for thousands of residents and businesses for days or weeks, much of the frustration residents felt was quickly directed at the Long Island Power Authority, which was criticized for its slow response and poor communications. Since then, public officials have agreed that something needs to be done to change the unusual structure of LIPA—but there’s little agreement as to what the solution is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for privatizing… [More]

An annotated press release about a Moreland Commission on the storm response.… [More]

THE PLAYERS THE STATE Gov. Andrew Cuomo jump-started the state’s energy policy with last year’s renewal of the Article X law for siting new power plants, and now he’s pushing for a transmission superhighway that could make it easier to meet his longtime goal of shutting down Indian Point. The governor’s behind-the-scenes energy brain trust includes Tom Congdon, an assistant energy secretary, policy adviser Jim Malatras and Bob Hallman, a newly hired deputy secretary for the environment. Department of Environmental… [More]

Cuomo’s push for a transmission superhighway faces challenges  Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vision of a new transmission superhighway in New York would solve what might seem like a simple challenge—connecting ample power resources upstate and in Canada with energy-hungry areas in and around New York City. “Let’s build an energy highway system that doesn’t exist now,” Cuomo said earlier this month in his State of the State speech. “We have supply of power in northern New York [and] Quebec. We have… [More]

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has blasted the Long Island Power Authority for its frustratingly slow efforts to restore power after Tropical Storm Irene, but the governor hasn’t been so quick to exert his own power on the public authority. But the governor’s delay in installing new leadership at LIPA may give him greater freedom to criticize the public authority since he is not responsible for any of its appointees, some observers say. Even before the storm hit, LIPA’s debt woes and… [More]

Public utilities are some of the most heavily regulated companies in the nation—and also some of the most stable. State regulators typically approve their rates, profit margins and service standards after a quasi-judicial process of weighing testimony from the companies, their customers and consumer advocates. Yet the process has been evolving in New York, where the state Public Service Commission is increasingly trying to set a regulatory scheme that reaches beyond individual rate cases to consider long-term issues about how… [More]