The Riverhead Town Board discussed at its Thursday work session whether to seek a $10 million state grant for downtown Riverhead on its own or jointly with Southampton Town, which is seeking the same funding in order to create a sewer district in Riverside.
PSEG Long Island workers will be trimming trees, installing new utility poles, setting up more weather-resistant wiring and upgrading its systems to have less customers affected by outages across Riverhead this month. READ
Residents across Long Island whose wallets continue to be squeezed by electric rates higher than nearly anywhere else in the country didn’t need to read a 34-page audit to know that current costs are unsustainable and unacceptable. READ
After a lengthy effort to reduce costs for Long Island Power Authority customers, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said that the utility has been ineffective after he discovered that costs have not been reduced and debt levels continued to rise. READ
Solar panels being constructed on the east side of Edwards Avenue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Foreseeing the megawatts of solar energy to come in the area, PSEG Long Island and the Long Island Power Authority are interested in building an electrical substation at the town-owned Enterprise Park at Calverton.
PSEG Long Island spokesman Jeffrey Weir confirmed in an interview that the company is interested in the EPCAL site, and according to Councilman George Gabrielsen, officials from PSEG/LIPA have asked permission to go on the site and take soil samples — something the town is willing to let them do.
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The state Department of Public Service held a public meeting Monday at the Riverhead Free Library to discuss PSEG’s rate increase plan. (Credit: Jen Nuzzo)
Long Islanders are blasting PSEG Long Island’s proposed rate increase plan and say current utility costs are already too high.
About 85 people attended an informational session Monday night at the Riverhead Free Library to discuss PSEG’s three-year rate plan, which was followed by a hearing for public comment.
The proposed rate hike to the delivery charge portion of an average residential customer’s bill is a 3.8 percent increase in 2016, or $3.25 per month, according to a PSEG press release. In 2017 and 2018, the proposed increase is 3.9 percent, or $3.30 per month.
After balancing its budget with $750,000 in projected revenues next year from either selling off or leasing land at the town-owned Enterprise Park at Calverton — namely to companies aiming to sell energy to the Long Island Power Authority — Riverhead Town had one project given a green light by LIPA on Wednesday that may end up covering the gap.
On Wednesday, LIPA’s Board of Trustees selected four solar projects from Calverton with which to start negotiating power purchase agreements. While three are with firms planning to lease private lands, one of them was at EPCAL with Hecate Energy, LLC. (more…)
Supervisor Sean Walter and councilman George Gabrielsen at a recent town board work session. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
News that LIPA is likely to delay plans to build more peaker plants on Long Island, but won’t be stalling on its renewable energy efforts, comes with mixed reactions. (more…)