Long Island Power Authority

As 2024 comes to an end, let’s take a look back at five key accomplishments LIPA made this year. 1 - South Fork Wind Farm: In March, together with Governor Kathy Hochul and Deb Haaland, the United States Secretary of the Interior, we celebrated the completion of our landmark South Fork Wind Farm. With all 12 offshore wind turbines completed, the wind farm is successfully delivering 132 megawatts of power to our customers across Long Island and the Rockaways. This was the first offshore wind farm in New York State and the first in federal waters! 2 - Credit Rating Upgrade: In July, LIPA received its fifth credit rating upgrade from Fitch Ratings – an A+ rating with a stable outlook. The agency noted LIPA’s improved leverage ratio, which has declined over the years, and cited “LIPA’s disciplined approach to rate setting.” This financial success stems from our Board of Trustees policy on Fiscal Sustainability, first approved in 2015. 3 - Federal Mitigation Grant: As a state authority, LIPA is eligible for federal grants for storm recovery and programs that fund certain long-term mitigation projects that reduce the impact of future disasters. In July, LIPA received ~$425 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue its successful storm-hardening program following Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020. 4 - Prepay Transaction: In October, LIPA executed a power purchase agreement with the Southeast Energy Authority to purchase a portion of retail customers’ annual energy requirements at a significant discount – approximately $5 per MWh. We expect to save our customers approximately $4.5 million annually with this prepay deal, for a total initial savings of approximately $32 million over the term of the contract. 5 - Battery Energy Storage: In December, LIPA approved two battery energy storage contracts with Key Capture Energy for a 79-megawatt facility in Hauppauge and a 50-megawatt facility in Shoreham. These projects will serve as critical resources to meet clean energy goals and reliability needs. For more information on the work we do on behalf of our customers, read our Annual Budget Report: https://lnkd.in/eRgBgVq6. We are proud to serve Long Island and the Rockaways and wish everyone a Happy New Year! 

This week, the LIPA Board of Trustees approved two battery energy storage contracts in Suffolk County: a 79 megawatt (MW) facility in Hauppauge and a 50 MW facility in Shoreham. Key Capture Energy, an experienced utility-scale battery energy storage developer, will now work with the Towns of Islip and Brookhaven on permitting, along with other town processes, to proceed with building the lithium-iron-phosphate battery facilities under long-term contracts with LIPA. To read our press release, visit: https://lnkd.in/gFA6_6RC. Additionally, Gary Stephenson, our Senior Vice President of Power Supply, authored an opinion piece on battery energy storage published in today's Long Island Business News. To read the full story, visit: https://lnkd.in/gZjWiwTE.

Umair Zia, LIPA’s Vice President of Electric Systems Operations, contributed to a recently published book entitled, "The Sustainable Power Grid: Challenges, Applications, and Case Studies." This first edition provides a breakdown of the many challenges faced in modernizing the power grid and presents insights by engineering consultants from across the country with vast experience in renewable, sustainable energy. In the book, Umair leverages his utility experience to address the key aspects, challenges, environmental factors, and techniques of integrating solar into the grid to create a dynamic and modern electric system. For more information, visit: https://lnkd.in/egZahMaU.

Each year, LIPA publishes an annual report outlining our commitment to ensuring our 1.2 million customers have access to clean, reliable, and affordable electric service.   Our 2025 Budget Report provides a transparent look at our business operations and our efforts to continuously improve utility operations. This report includes information on many topics, including details on the proposed budget, updates on LIPA's financial performance, storm preparedness, progress on the new Time-of-Day rate initiative, clean energy projects coming onto the electric grid, and continued investments in resilience and reliability.   LIPA encourages the public to participate in our budget process. Between Monday, November 25, and Tuesday, November 26, we will hold three public comment sessions across Long Island and the Rockaways. Written comments can also be submitted via email to [email protected] until November 29.   Additionally, LIPA is proposing six changes to its electric tariff. The LIPA Board will consider the 2025 proposed budget and tariff changes at its next meeting on Wednesday, December 18.   To read our Annual Budget Report, visit: https://lnkd.in/eRgBgVq6.   To learn about our proposed tariff changes, visit: https://lnkd.in/eHwEJ3wE.   To participate in the public comment sessions, visit: https://lnkd.in/eT--BgYV.   To sign up for email updates, visit: https://lnkd.in/eRreEsQW.

Today, Gary Stephenson, LIPA's Senior Vice President of Power Supply, and the LIPA team celebrated the launch of Circuit's new on-demand electric transportation service for the Brentwood community.    Circuit Transit, Inc., a leading provider of electric vehicle mobility solutions, was one of ten winners of the New York Clean Transportation Prizes announced in November 2022, administered by NYSERDA, with a $7 million contribution by LIPA to fund clean transportation services in both Brentwood and the Rockaways.    'BrentwoodGo' is a new accessible and affordable green transportation service aimed at closing the last-mile gap and reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector. Circuit's affordable transportation services will also create jobs and enhance the local community. On-demand rides are now available at no cost before a flat fare of $2.50 is introduced in the coverage area.    For more information visit, https://lnkd.in/epWB29gZ.

Yesterday, members of the LIPA team joined Women in Communications and Energy (WICE) New York and the Long Island Chapter of C3E Women in Clean Energy for a panel discussion and networking event at our Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center. LIPA Chairwoman Tracey Edwards provided opening remarks, and the panel was moderated by Carrie Gallagher, Director of the New York State Department of Public Service Long Island office. The engaging discussion centered around reliability, resiliency, and sustainability and featured wonderful speakers from the New York Power Authority, NYISO, and PSEG Long Island LLC. 

John Rhodes, Acting CEO, recently joined other leaders in the energy sector for an engaging panel discussion at Hofstra University entitled 'Energizing the Future.'   Hosted by the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, the discussion centered around the clean energy transition and featured a panel of experts who shared their insights on innovations, policies, and technologies driving the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Panelists included Justin Driscoll, President and CEO of the New York Power Authority, David Manning, LIPA Trustee and Director of Stakeholder Relations at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Peter Rose, Senior Director of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro Québec, and moderated by Robert Catell, Chair of the Zarb Executive in Residence Program.   Thank you to all the students who participated in making the event a success.

This week, at NYSERDA's Future Energy Economy Summit in Syracuse, Governor Kathy Hochul outlined important initiatives focused on the impact of emerging technologies and renewable energy on New York's economic growth. These initiatives will guide the planning for New York's energy needs in the near, mid, and long term. They emphasize the advancement of reliable, emissions-free resources and the ongoing expansion of renewable energy, reinforcing the state's commitment to accelerating progress toward a zero-emission electricity system. For more information, visit: https://lnkd.in/eZk_igXA.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded LIPA to an ‘A+’ rating with a stable outlook – a significant improvement from the previous ‘A’ rating with a positive outlook received last year. This upgrade is a direct result of our enhanced financial performance and continued and steady achievement of our strategic objectives set by our Board of Trustees. Read more about the news here: https://lnkd.in/edYrsemV.

At its National Conference, the American Public Power Association (APPA) presented LIPA with the 2024 E.F. Scattergood System Achievement Award. This award recognizes member utilities who’ve enhanced the prestige of public power through sustained achievement and customer service. We understand how important reliability and resiliency are for our customers. That’s why we have invested a record $6.4 billion since 2016 – over three times the pace of investment of a decade ago – to achieve industry-leading reliability, improve resiliency, and leverage modern system design and technology to provide value to our customers. Together with our partners at PSEG Long Island LLC, we are amongst the nation’s top 10% of utilities for reliability. For more information on each of the award winners, visit https://lnkd.in/eJHxuyh4.