Frequently Asked Questions

LIPA owns the electrical transmission and distribution system serving our community, but we contract for most of the management services and power supply used to operate the electric grid. Since 2014, LIPA has contracted with PSEG Long Island, a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG), a publicly traded diversified energy company, for management services. LIPA provides service to customers under the PSEG Long Island brand name. The current contract with PSEG Long Island expires on December 31, 2025.

PSEG Long Island is responsible for managing LIPA’s transmission and distribution system, including, among other functions, managing day-to-day operation and maintenance, emergency response, customer service, billing and collection, and meter reading.

LIPA is a corporate, municipal agency and a political subdivision of the State of New York, with essential governmental and public powers. LIPA was created by the New York State Legislature through the Long Island Power Authority Act of 1986, with amendments through the LIPA Reform Act of 2013. LIPA became the provider of electric service in the Service Area on May 28, 1998 by acquiring the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) as a wholly-owned subsidiary through a merger.

Following its acquisition, LIPA retained LILCO’s electric transmission and distribution systems, certain agreements and contracts for power supply and transmission, an 18% ownership interest in Unit 2 of the Nine Mile Point nuclear electric generating station located in Oswego, New York, along with certain other assets and liabilities. The remainder of LILCO’s assets, including its then-existing fossil-fueled generating units, employees, and entire gas supply system, were transferred to certain subsidiaries of KeySpan Corporation. In August 2007, KeySpan was acquired by National Grid plc.

LIPA has a diversified portfolio of power supply. In addition to owning a portion of upstate nuclear energy projects that transmit power to Long Island, LIPA contracts with National Grid for 3,500 megawatts of generating capacity, and additionally contracts with other power plants for 2,300 megawatts of on-Island generation. LIPA also owns rights to 990 megawatts of transmission capacity via subsea cables that create the option to purchase wholesale electricity from markets in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. For more information, see LIPA’s 2023 Integrated Resources Plan.

A nine-member local Board of Trustees appointed by our State’s elected officials governs LIPA. The Board supervises, regulates, and sets policy for LIPA. The Board’s policies define LIPA’s purpose and vision and set expectations for the strategic outcomes management will deliver for reliability, customer experience, clean energy, affordability, information technology, and fiscal sustainability.

LIPA is the third-largest public power utility in the United States, serving 1.2 million customers across Long Island and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA has the ultimate authority and control over the transmission and distribution system assets and specific responsibilities, including determining all rates and charges; reviewing and approving LIPA’s budget; representing LIPA’s interests in industry and regulatory institutions and organizations; approving PSEG Long Island’s appointment or replacement of its senior executive team; and reviewing and approving power and fuel supply agreements. Additionally, LIPA has the right to undertake such actions, receive additional information, consult with the representatives of PSEG Long Island, and make recommendations to PSEG Long Island to perform its oversight responsibilities and obligations.

Being a part of a not-for-profit utility means that each citizen of Long Island and the Rockaways has a voice in our community-owned utility that provides reliable electricity to its residential and commercial customers at the lowest possible cost. Public power utilities are locally controlled and operated on a not-for-profit basis. Public power utilities also have access to lower-cost financing and federal grants not available to for-profit utilities. This lower-cost public ownership and local control model are focused on achieving the best outcomes for customers and the communities in which they serve.

LIPA’s service territory spans Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens County and does not include the Villages of Rockville Centre, Freeport, and Greenport. Long Island’s owned and contracted electric resources include seven major interconnection cables to regional markets, two nuclear facilities, dozens of fossil-fueled power plants, five solar farms, and two battery storage systems. Multiple power supply projects are under development, including three major offshore wind projects and three additional transmission cables to LIPA’s service territory.

The Long Island office of the Department of Public Service (DPS) was created in 2012 to review and make recommendations to the LIPA Board, LIPA, and PSEG Long Island related to rates and charges, core utility functions including capital expenditures, the methods employed by PSEG Long Island for providing safe and adequate service, and PSEG Long Island’s emergency response plan. DPS is also responsible for investigating and mediating customer complaints. Additionally, DPS undertakes comprehensive management and operations audits of LIPA and PSEG Long Island every five years, as it does for investor-owned utilities in the state. LIPA assumes the costs and expenses relating to the DPS’s oversight role, which is approximately $12 million annually, plus the actual cost of management and operations audits. More information on DPS can be found here.