Rockville Centre will seek electric rate increase

Rockville Centre residents could face a 10 to 15 percent rise in their electrical rates within the next year, Mayor Francis Murray said at the Oct. 17 village board meeting.

The mayor announced that the village would soon petition the New York State Public Service Commission for a rate increase. Murray said that Comptroller Michael Schussheim informed him in July that the village Electric Department had been operating at a deficit for two years. The previous administration chose not to address the issue, Murray added.

“My administration is moving swiftly to restore our electric utility to financial stability,” Murray said. “Establishing our own electric utility under local control, providing reliable and low rates, was one of the first actions of the founders of Rockville Centre.”

The mayor went on to say that village electric rates were some of the lowest in the region, and that even after an increase, they would still be less than those paid by LIPA and Con Ed customers.

The process of increasing rates takes nearly a year, Murray explained, because of technical work that needs to be completed before new rates can be estimated.

Though the increase would cover only the village power plant’s operating expenses, the administration is also considering the possible need for new generating equipment at the plant, Murray said. “This would be a capital improvement that would require an additional rate adjustment,” he said. “It has been seven years since the last rate increase, and this would be just the third increase in almost 20 years.”

Trustee Michael Sepe explained why the village may need new generating equipment. “Part of the problem [is that] our generators, as they currently exist … are not compliant pursuant to the most recent regulations of the EPA and the federal government,” Sepe said, referring to the Environmental Protection Agency. “So what was acceptable four or five years ago, in terms of being environmentally efficient and compliant with the Clean Air Act and new EPA regulations, now isn’t.”

Sepe added that the village needed to request a variance from the federal government to keep using the generators it has. If the village were required to purchase new generators, he said, the administration would still need to ask the state for permission to institute a rate change to offset

the cost.

“Welcome to the whipsaw that is federal versus state government,” Sepe concluded.