Mineola, NY- On behalf of Nassau County, Comptroller George Maragos filed rebuttal testimony with the Long Island Branch of the Department of Public Service, outlining that the 4% PSEG rate increase request is unwarranted. The Comptroller’s testimony lists four potential areas where PSEG could reduce expenditures through productivity improvements, better management and use of energy hedging gains by up to $176 million annually. When combined with approximately $55 million annually in unnecessary costs identified by the Department of Public Service in its testimony, the total potential budgetary savings of about $230 million annually could exceed the 4% or about $72.5 million annual rate increase requested by PSEG. Furthermore, there may be an opportunity to also reduce capital costs by an additional $38 million from the implementation of the ERP System which we believe PSEG should make available without cost under their Operating Agreement with LIPA.
“The PSEG rate increase request is unwarranted,” said Comptroller Maragos. “PSEG has not made the case for the rate increase and actually, as one looks at its multi-year plan, there are significant opportunities to reduce costs and to offer the LI rate payers a significant rate reduction. PSEG is called upon to exhibit better management to realize these cost reduction opportunities while improving the reliability of the system.”