The Village Beacon Record - March 9, 2023

The VILLAGE BEACON RECORD

Community Choice Aggregation

Brookhaven joins energy revolution

BY RAYMOND JANIS EDITOR1@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Community choice aggregation, a revolution in energy procurement, is making a splash throughout Long Island.

Starting in May, the Town of Brookhaven will launch a CCA program, contracting with England-based public limited company Good Energy for a fixed rate for natural gas consumers over the next two years.

In an interview, Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) explained how the program would operate. Under the longstanding method of natural gas delivery in the town, National Grid — based in the U.K. and northeastern U.S. — purchases the supply and delivers the gas. CCA alters this dynamic.

“CCA is just a method of purchasing a

commodity on a communitywide basis,” he said. Under the program, “all of the customers of National Grid in a certain area are getting together to say, ‘We’re going to jointly purchase fuel cooperatively from a different source.’”

That source, Good Energy, has agreed to supply gas at a fixed price of 69.5 cents per therm. “That locks in the price for all customers” for two years, the councilmember said.

National Grid, which still operates the delivery systems, will continue to bill customers for those services. The only section of the bill affected by the changes will be for energy supply.

An August report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration states that the natural gas market saw record volatility last year due to demand changes, storms and geopolitical unrest.

Given the many variables that contribute to fluctuations in gas prices, Kornreich suggested

Brookhaven homeowners and businesses would be less beholden to the volatility of the market under CCA. “We’re going to pay just one price for the next two years,” he said.

The town is also hedging that the market price of natural gas will rise over the next two years. If that happens, CCA will deliver discounted gas to Brookhaven ratepayers throughout the contracted period.

“The expectation that I have, as given to me by the corporate representatives with whom I met, is that there’s going to be a savings to the customers,” Kornreich said. “My hope is that this price is competitive over a two-year period.”

He added, “Based on the models that they’ve shown me, this price will — over the long term — on average be lower than what they would have paid if they had just rode that market price.”

STORY CONTINUED ON A5

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Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Senior, and Seaford Resident Meghan Andersen, was named the N.S.C.H.S.G.A.A. Basketball Player of the Year! Meghan has committed to play Basketball at Fairfield University.

Pictured with Coach and Huntington Resident Randy Todd. For more information, visit www.olma.org.

Mount Sinai educators duel it out on the court

BY BILL LANDON DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Mount Sinai High School.

Funds raised from gate admission, food and snacks and apparel sales supported the Mount Sinai Booster Club, with the proceeds going towards athletic scholarships awarded in June.

SCHOOL

It was the 21st edition of the coveted “Battle of the Educators,” where the Mount Sinai School District faculty squared off in an annual basketball game pitting the high school teachers against their middle and elementary school colleagues on Friday, March 3, at the

The game took place in front of a nearcapacity crowd, with attendance approaching pre-pandemic levels.

— Photos by Bill Landon

SBU’s Pikitch, others ‘optimistic’ about the

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

Determined, passionate and committed representatives to the United Nations, including the United States, spent over 20 years trying to hammer out an agreement to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030.

This past Saturday, after extending a deadline, representatives of 193 countries in New York verbally agreed to terms of a High Seas Treaty designed to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources. While individual countries still have to ratify the treaty, scientists like Ellen Pikitch, endowed professor of Ocean Conservation Science and executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University, praised the agreement.

“It’s fantastic,” Pikitch said. “It’s been needed for so long.”

Lisa Speer, a marine scientist and the director of the International Oceans Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, has been working to educate and encourage government leaders to understand what’s at stake and how to protect the oceans.

“This is a big step forward for biodiversity conservation on a global level,” said Speer.

“This provides me with a lot of encouragement.”

In addition to the educational and advocacy work she did over the years, Speer spent much of the last 36 hours at the U.N. surrounded by others who had slept on the floor or in various rooms and hallways amid the effort to get this treaty across the finish line.

“Everybody was really emotional,” she said, with spontaneous applause and cheers continuing for a long period of time. “A lot of us have been here since the beginning. There were celebratory hugs and thanks and tears of joy for the efforts of so many people” including some who were not in the room but had worked for decades on this treaty.

The view of the importance of biodiversity in the oceans has changed considerably over the last few decades.

“For most of human history, the high seas have been viewed as an empty wasteland,” Speer said. Now, however, people recognize that it’s “probably the largest reserve of biodiversity left on the planet.”

This treaty, Pikitch and Speer added, can and should help ensure that humans can explore and discover some of that biodiversity before it might otherwise disappear.

Speer is hopeful that United States senators, who will have a chance to vote on the treaty, recognize that the country has “a very strong interest in making sure it has a voice in

High Seas

decisions affecting half the planet. It’s in our interest to be full participants in that process.”

Pikitch, who is an expert in the field of Marine Protected Areas, suggested that the process of coming up with a framework to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by the end of the decade involved considerable back and forth with various interest groups within each country.

“It’s not that easy to determine how this area would be managed,” Pikitch said. Various groups have “concerns that differ among different parts of the global community.”

Pikitch pointed out that a Convention on Biological Diversity late last year agreed that the world would protect 30% of the lands and waters by 2030.

Pikitch said such a goal was unattainable without this High Seas Treaty, which addressed the parts of the ocean that had previously been off limits to such protections. The treaty and the establishment of marine protected areas will be “huge for biodiversity,” Pikitch said.

Piktich suggested that the commitment over two decades and the increasing public awareness of the importance of ocean resources offers her hope that this treaty, for which numerous details are still in the works, will offer effective protection.

“There’s a huge amount of passion and commitment by countries of the world to work this out,” she said. “They did not give up.”

The U.N.’s High Seas Treaty aims to reduce pollution, protect biodiversity and share ocean resources. Stock photo

Brookhaven joins energy revolution

Continued from COVER

CCA: An energy revolution

Community choice aggregation first came about in the 1990s as a model of procuring energy whereby a municipality can pool the buying power of its residents to negotiate favorable energy contracts.

Gang He is an assistant professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University, whose research focuses on energy and climate policy.

The assistant professor regarded the traditional relationship between energy consumers and suppliers as heavily skewed in favor of suppliers, referring to consumer protections under CCA as correcting the power imbalance.

“When utilities deal with residents, residents have no power,” Gang He said. “It’s a monopoly, and it’s heavily regulated by regulators. A CCA can play a role in helping the residents to have more negotiation power.”

Paul Fenn, founder and president of the Massachusetts-based CCA firm Local Power, drafted some of the original enabling legislation for CCA in Massachusetts, California and throughout the U.S. In an interview, he traced the history of CCA.

Fenn said vertically integrated investor-owned utilities have historically operated as monopolies and cartels, given their guaranteed rates of return by state regulators and energy market deregulation. CCA, he said, seeks to rectify this.

“The basic definition is that CCA is a model of energy supply that is neither a monopoly nor a cartel,” he said.

He likened the energy model to Costco. “The reason that large users achieve cheaper services is like going to Costco,” he said. “If you’re buying 200 rolls of toilet paper instead of 20, you pay a lower price.”

CCA applies this framework to the energy supply, giving the small consumer the perks of a bulk purchaser by pooling the buying power of entire communities.

“It’s a way for small users ... to gain the economic buying power enjoyed by the largest corporations,” he said, adding, “The aggregations are designed to deliver the benefits to the user and not to the supplier.”

Two factors, according to Fenn, have contributed to the rise of CCA nationwide. On the one hand, the economic model has been tailored and perfected to benefit individual users over large suppliers. On the other hand, renewable technologies have progressed to the point where they are now competitive with fossil fuels.

Fenn characterized CCA as a revolution

for capitalizing on the convergence of cheap renewable energy and consumer protections for utility power.

Promoting renewables

Anne Reynolds is executive director of Alliance for Clean Energy New York, a group of private companies and nonprofits partnering to expand green energy opportunities throughout New York state. Reynolds indicated that CCA could be interpreted in two ways — as an economic model or as a way to promote green energy.

CCA “can be purely an economics choice,” she said. “You can think of it as a collective buying co-op,” but “most of the examples in New York state are when the community also wants to get a renewable energy product.”

Reynolds stated that CCA is not the main objective of ACE NY as CCA “hasn’t been the primary way that renewable energy products are getting built in New York, which is what we focus on,” she said.

Her organization instead emphasizes the construction of large-scale, grid-connected renewable energy projects through long-term contracts with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state must procure 70% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and 100% by 2050. When asked whether CCAs offer a pathway toward a greener future in New York, Reynolds responded that there must be a mix of large-scale and smallscale projects.

“To get there, we’re going to need an unprecedented construction of renewable energy projects — offshore wind, wind, solar, batteries,” she said. “To get that done, these projects need to have a guaranteed market for their power, what they refer to as offtake agreements.”

She added, “Having those offtake agreements with the State of New York is one way to do it. Having the offtake agreements with communities in New York is another.”

One way CCA can promote new development in renewables, Reynolds said, is through community distributed generation, often referred to as community solar.

“Community choice aggregation programs can be a great tool for getting community solar built, paid for and delivered to people,” she said. “For the state to meet its goals, and for Long Island especially, it’s going to require a little bit of everything.”

The Southampton model

Brookhaven is not the only municipality

in Suffolk County implementing CCA. In the neighboring Town of Southampton, local officials are exploring a different posture, with an energy plan geared toward electricity instead of natural gas.

Lynn Arthur is the energy chair of Southampton’s volunteer sustainability committee and the founder of the nonprofit Peak Power Long Island, a consultancy group that services municipalities and their constituents on renewable energy technologies.

Arthur said there are currently two CCA administrators operating on Long Island, Good Energy and Bedford Hillsbased Joule Community Power, Southampton’s CCA administrator. She notes that the difference in administrators has placed the two municipalities on separate trajectories.

In Southampton, the Town Board is working toward obtaining electricity from 100% renewable energy sources by 2025. Arthur said that goal is coming into focus.

“It’s only natural that we would try to get a power supply contract for 100% renewables for electricity,” she said.

To meet this task, Arthur suggested CCA would play a pivotal role. She is now advocating for the Southampton Town Board to submit a request for proposal to supply electricity from 100% renewable sources.

Brookhaven vs. Southampton

Weighing Brookhaven’s CCA against Southampton’s, former New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) suggested that Southampton has the upper hand.

“I think Southampton’s model is the better one,” he said. “Electricity is the future. We should be moving away from natural gas.”

But, he added, “to the extent that the Town of Brookhaven can get started with [CCA] is promising. I think the inevitable success of what Southampton is doing will compel their next-door neighbor, Brookhaven,” to follow suit.

Despite Brookhaven’s gas-exclusive CCA, Fenn did not say that gas aggregation was inherently brown and electricity aggregation green. Rather, he said promoting renewables through CCA is a matter of how a program is implemented.

He objected, however, to the limited scope of Brookhaven’s CCA initiative. “This program is defined narrowly as a discount-only program, and I think that’s not a particularly good idea,” he said. “It’s hard to argue against stabilizing people’s rates, but it won’t help the environment if that’s all they’re doing, and it

ATTENTION

Miller Place, Rocky Point & Shoreham-Wading River School District Residents

Pursuant to New York State Education Law, requests for non-public school transportation for the 2023–24 school year must be submitted or postmarked to your home school district by no later than April 1, 2023.

A new request must be submitted each year for each child. It is strongly recommended that anyone even considering sending their child to a non-public school in September 2023 file an application for transportation with their home school district by April 1st. Failure to do so will result in the denial of your late request

For additional information and to obtain an application please call:

• Miller Place School District: 631–474–2700 ext. 730 8:30 am–3:30 pm

• Rocky Point School District: 631–849–7162 8 am–4 pm

• Shoreham-Wading River School District: 631–821–8127 8 am–4 pm

‘A CCA can play a role in helping the residents to have more negotiation power.’

—GANG HE

‘I like the idea of moving away from monolithic energy sourcing.’

— STEVE ENGLEBRIGHT

The following incidents have been reported by Suffolk County Police:

Lake Ronkonkoma chiropractor arrested Suffolk County Police arrested a chiropractor on March 3 for allegedly forcibly touching three female patients at his Lake Ronkonkoma business in 2021 and 2022. Three women contacted detectives to report Ronald Bernardini, a chiropractor at Lake Chiropractic, located at 201 Portion Road, allegedly forcibly touched them during their appointments between February 2021 and October 2022. The victims came forward after Bernardini was arrested in October 2022 for sexually abusing a teen at his practice.

Fourth Squad detectives charged Bernardini, 65, of Smithtown, with four counts of Forcible Touching. Detectives are asking anyone who believes they could be a victim of Bernardini to contact the Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452.

Setauket teen bicyclist killed on Route 347

Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are investigating a motor vehicle crash that killed a bicyclist in Setauket on March 2. David Zerella was driving a 2015 Dodge Charger westbound on Route 347 at Wireless Road when his vehicle struck a bicyclist who was crossing Route 347 at approximately 6:30 p.m.

The bicyclist, Qamat Shah, 14, of Setauket, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Zerella, 36, of Port Jefferson, and his female passenger were not injured. The Dodge was impounded for a safety check. Detectives are asking anyone with information to call the Sixth Squad at 631-854-8652.

Merchandise stolen from Target in Selden

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police

Sixth Precinct Crime Section officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole assorted merchandise, including a Dyson vacuum, from Target, located at 307 Independence Plaza, on Feb. 25 at approximately 10:10 a.m. The stolen merchandise has a value of approximately $575.

CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Wanted for Port Jeff Station burglary

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Squad detectives are seeking the public’s help to identify the man who allegedly burglarized a Port Jefferson Station restaurant in January. A man broke a glass door to enter Chick-fil-A, located at 5184 Nesconset Highway, on Jan. 20, at approximately 12:05 a.m. He allegedly took several iPads from an office, and then fled in a sedan.

Arrests made on murder of PJS man on Greenway Trail

in June of 2021

Following an investigation by Homicide Squad detectives, Jose Martinez-Vazquez and Tiffany Diaz-Cabrera were arrested on March 5 for the alleged murder of Benjamin FloresMendez, who was found stabbed to death on the Greenway Trail, near Clifton Place, in Port Jefferson Station on June 17, 2021. MartinezVazquez, 24, and Diaz-Cabrera, 20, both of Port Jefferson Station, have each been charged with Murder 2nd Degree.

Human remains found on Shirley beach

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are conducting an investigation after human remains were found on the beach at Smith Point County Park in Shirley on March 6. Smith Point County Park employees called 911 at 1:35 p.m. after a woman reported to them she had located what appeared to be a human bone. Police responded and located the bone in the sand. The remains were taken to the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner for autopsy to determine the cause of death and to make an identification.

— COMPILED BY

HEIDI SUTTON

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS.

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Ronald Bernardini

Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

BY BILL LANDON DESK@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

It was all for the bragging rights during the overall Section XI championship when the undefeated Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats (23-0), the small school winner, squared off against large school champion Walt Whitman at Island Federal Credit Arena at Stony Brook University on March 4.

The Wildcats trailed by two points to open the second half. However, they struggled to land their shots, allowing Whitman to slowly edge ahead for the 50-42 victory, handing SWR its first loss of the season.

Sophie Costello led the Wildcats with 12 points. GraceAnn Leonard followed with 10, and Annie Sheehan and Juliana Mahan banked

seven points each. Teammates Colleen Ohrtman, Haylie Abrams and Anabel Keegan netted two points apiece.

Wildcats fall short during exhibition match against Whitman SPORTS

Shoreham-Wading River, the Suffolk Class A title holder, lives to fight another day, advancing to the Long Island Championship round (regional finals) on Saturday, March 11, when they’ll face Manhasset (23-1) at Farmingdale State College. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.

Pictured clockwise, from above: ShorehamWading River freshman Anabel Keegan banks two for the Wildcats; senior Colleen Ohrtman battles her way to the rim; and senior GraceAnn Leonard drives the baseline during the Section XI championship game against Walt Whitman.

— Photos by Bill Landon

LEGALS

NOTICEOFSALESUPREME

AsTrusteeForLSF10MasterParticipationTrust,

PlaintiffAGAINSTVincent

auctionattheBrookhaven Refereewillsellatpublic 2020,I,theundersigned enteredNovember27, ForeclosureandSaleduly PursuanttoaJudgmentof Giglio,etal.,Defendant(s)

TownHall,1Independence

as34SHINNECOCKDRIVE, 11:00AM,premisesknown onMarch22,2023at Hill,Farmingville,NY11738

SOUNDBEACH,NY11778

a/k/a11789.Allthatcertainplotpieceorparcelof

072.00Block:02.00Lot: ofNewYork,Section: CountyofSuffolkandState theTownshipofBrookhaven, situate,lyingandbeingin improvementserected, land,withthebuildingsand

051.000District:0200.

Approximateamountof

judgment$410,750.19plus

Index#604410/2018.The provisionsoffiledJudgment willbesoldsubjectto interestandcosts.Premises

COVID-19Protocolslocated withtheSUFFOLKCounty beconductedinaccordance aforementionedauctionwill

ontheOfficeofCourt

Administration(OCA)website(https://ww2.nycourts. gov/Admin/oca.shtml)and

assuchallpersonsmust

complywithsocialdistancing,wearingmasksand

screeningpracticesineffect

atthetimeofthisforeclosuresale.BrianEgan,Esq.,

LLP1400OldCountryRoad, RefereeFein,Such&Crane,

Suite103NWestbury,NY

11590SPSJN43774868

1288702/164xvbr

COUNTYOFSUFFOLK STATEOFNEWYORKSUPREMECOURTOFTHE

U.S.BANKNATIONALASSOCIATION,ASTRUSTEEFOR

RESIDENTIALASSETMORTGAGEPRODUCTS,INC.,

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2006-NC2, CERTIFICATES,SERIES

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ANDREBURRUS,ETAL.

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May18,2022,andentered

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6,2023at10:00AM,premisesknownas35HICKORY

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LAND,SITUATE,LYINGAND PIECEORPARCELOF ALLTHATCERTANPLOT,

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622809/2018.MichaelS.

Ross,Esq.-Referee.Robertson,Anschutz,Schneid,

Crane&Partners,PLLC900

MerchantsConcourse,Suite

Plaintiff. Allforeclosure 11590,Attorneysfor 310,Westbury,NewYork

guidelinesincluding,but accordancewithCovid-19 saleswillbeconductedin

notlimitedto,socialdistancingandmaskwearing.

*LOCATIONOFSALESUBJECTTOCHANGEDAYOF

INACCORDANCEWITH

COURT/CLERKDIRECTIVES .

1321003/24xvbr

BoardofEducation

MountSinaiUnionFree

SchoolDistrict

NorthCountryRoad

11766 MountSinai,NewYork

NOTICETOBIDDERS

TheBoardofEducation,

SchoolDistrict,MountSinai, MountSinaiUnionFree

NewYork(inaccordance

5AoftheGeneralMunicipal withSection103ofArticle

onthefollowingequipment:

MOUNTSINAIATHLETIC

(FieldMaintenance)

PAINTBID#2023/24-3

(ALLBIDSMUSTCONFORM

TOEXISTINGORDERSUNLESSOTHERWISE

DESIGNANDCOLORSTO SPECIFIED.ALLREQUIRED

EXACTLYMATCHOUREXISTINGINVENTORY.NO

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SpecificationsandBid

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emailrequestto sreh@ mtsinai.k12.ny.us.Bidswill

MountSinaiUnionFree bereceivedbymailto

SchoolDistrict,Attn:BusinessOffice,118North

bidswillbeopened. whichtimeandplaceall am on March16,2023 at NewYork11766 until 9:15 CountryRoad,MountSinai,

BoardofEducationreserves

acceptpartofanybid. therighttorejectallorto

aftertheformalopening bindingforNinety(90)days Anybidsubmittedwillbe

BoardofEducation. pendingthedecisionofthe withdrawnduringthattime, thereof,andnobidshallbe

ByOrderOfThe:

MOUNTSINAIUNIONFREE BOARDOFEDUCATION

NEWYORK SUFFOLKCOUNTY, TOWNOFBROOKHAVEN MOUNTSINAI, SCHOOLDISTRICT

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Defendant(s) a/k/aAlishaVargas;etal., a/k/aAlishaA.Meston A.Meston;AlishaMeston

pursuanttoaFinalJudgmentofForeclosuredated BrookhavenTownHall,1 atpublicauctionatthe undersignedRefereewillsell enteredJuly27,2022I,the ForeclosureandSaleduly

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pieceorparcelofland,with 11776.Allthatcertainplot PortJeffersonStation,NY knownas39OntarioStreet, 2023at9:30AM,premises

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EricBesso,Esq.,Referee

LLC Shapiro,DiCaro&Barak, LOGSLegalGroupLLPf/k/a

Attorney(s)forthePlaintiff

175MileCrossing

Boulevard

Rochester,NewYork14624

(877)430-4792

Dated:February8,2023

1327603/94xvbr

MTSINAIFIREDISTRICT

NOTICETOBIDDERS

SALEOF2010

ChevroletTahoe

NOTICEISHEREBYGIVEN

followingvehicle: bytheDistrictofthe Commissioners,forthesale readbytheBoardofFire willbepubliclyopenedand 2023,atwhichtimethey thenineffect,onMarch21, Yorkuntil8:00P.M.,time CoramRoad,Mt.Sinai,New DistrictOffice,746Mt.Sinai Mt.SinaiFireDistrictatthe FireCommissionersofthe receivedbytheBoardof thatsealedbidswillbe

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Dated:Mt.Sinai,NewYork

March1,2023

BYORDEROFTHEBOARD

OFFIRECOMMISSIONERS

MT.SINAIFIREDISTRICT

MarianneWaterbury,

Secretary

1331403/91xvbr

MOUNTSINAIUNIONFREE

SCHOOLDISTRICT

118NorthCountryRoad

MountSinai,NY11766

PRE-KINDERGARTEN UNIVERSAL

SERVICES

receiveproposalsfor FreeSchoolDistrictwill thattheMountSinaiUnion NOTICEISHEREBYGIVEN ,

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March16,2023

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PursuanttoaJudgmentof

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Continued from A5

may hurt it.”

Creating competition

Fenn regarded municipalities as sometimes prone to short-term thinking. While gas aggregation is a step toward unshackling ratepayers from the market’s volatility, he said it is incomplete.

Instead, he advised Brookhaven leaders to explore fuel switching, that is, transitioning residents from natural gas to electricity. The heat pump, for example, constitutes one way in which a home’s heating can be fulfilled by electric power instead of gas.

“Apart from the climate crisis, which says stop burning this stuff, there are so many reasons” to transition off fossil fuels, Fenn said. By fuel switching, “you’re adding electrical load when you do that, but you’re deleting gas demand.”

By creating a separate program for electrical aggregation, Fenn said Brookhaven could correct course, providing gas customers with greener options for heating.

Asked whether the Brookhaven Town Board could add a second CCA administrator for electricity, he responded affirmatively. “Just deliver both, and you can,” he said.

Arthur emphasized that municipalities can have separate CCA administrators for gas and electricity. She suggested Brookhaven add a second administrator for electricity to

further competition.

“Fundamentally, if competition is good, and if you want everybody to go to electricity and get away from gas, then you should have [CCA administrators] compete with each other,” she said. Local vs.

centralized intervention

Fenn noted the decline of municipal power since the Civil War, which he said had rendered local governments impotent compared to their state and federal counterparts. He criticized the tendency of local officials to outsource services to third-party vendors.

“Part of the problem is the dependence on third parties cripples the governments by making them intellectually captive to those service providers,” he said. “We believe municipalities should have skin in the game and should use the power that they have.”

Fenn attributed the climate and garbage crises in the United States to the decline of municipal powers and the failures of centralized government. He encouraged local policymakers to embrace programs like CCA to counteract these downward movements.

“There has to be knowledge, responsibility and therefore control” vested in municipal government, he said. “CCA uses contractors to provide services, but they’re firmly under the control of the municipality.”

While CCA proposes a local solution to a global climate phenomenon, questions remain about the best forms of intervention.

For Reynolds, tackling the climate crisis requires a centralized intervention from

Make a Statement...

the higher levels of government, with local governments doing their part as well. “We absolutely need both,” the ACE NY executive director said.

For the state to reach its aggressive emission mandates, “you’re going to need larger power projects, too, like offshore,” she said. “But it shouldn’t be an either or question.”

A sustainable future

Gang He viewed the growth in renewable energy, evidenced by over $1 trillion in worldwide investment last year, as a turning point in energy history.

“Renewables have gained momentum,” the SBU assistant professor said. “The challenge is how do we maintain the momentum to deliver the outcome that we desire?”

Arthur recommends CCA to local officials as a way to do so. “It’s so clear that this is such a great opportunity to move the needle on renewables and, at the same time, lower costs for their constituents,” she said.

Asked whether Brookhaven’s CCA could spur interest in a similar program for electricity, Kornreich expressed optimism that the town’s program would foster better energy stewardship.

“I hope that it does open people’s eyes to the

possibility and to get people more comfortable with the concept of being a more conscious consumer of utility power,” he said. “Whether it’s gas or electric, people can understand they can choose and that their choices will have an impact on the environment.”

Though acknowledging some of the drawbacks to the Brookhaven program, Englebright expressed encouragement about moving away from the preexisting procurement structure.

“Great journeys are made a step at a time,” the former assemblyman said. “I like the idea of moving away from monolithic energy sourcing.” He added, “A more distributed power system is to our advantage, ultimately — more competitive, less monolithic and more responsive to the public.”

For more details on the Town of Brookhaven’s Community Choice Aggregation Program, visit the website brookhavencommunityenergy.com.

According to the website, “Eligible customers will soon receive additional information in the mail regarding product features, including information about the renewable energy option.”

‘It’s so clear that this is such a great opportunity to move the needle on renewables and, at the same time, lower costs for their constituents.’

— LYNN ARTHUR

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Editorial Choose community choice: It’s sound economics

Community choice aggregation is a nationwide revolution in energy procurement with transformational implications for Long Island.

The benefits of CCA are threefold. It offers ratepayers an avenue for lower energy costs. It introduces competition into the energy marketplace, incentivizing public utilities to deliver a better product. And it places entire communities down a path toward 100% renewable energy.

The popular fiction is that fossil fuels are cheaper and more efficient than their expensive and immature renewable counterparts. CCA proponents challenge this thinking, stipulating that renewables can outperform fossil fuels with the proper economic structure, a structure supporting energy consumers instead of suppliers.

Classical economics indicates that one company controlling the entire supply of a given commodity constitutes a monopoly. Since the Industrial Revolution, vertically integrated utilities have exercised exclusive control over the supply of energy, setting prices arbitrarily and controlling the market at will.

CCA seeks to flip this dynamic on its head, introducing competition into the energy market using the bulk-buying power of a community of people. Though they are opted in automatically, ratepayers can opt out at any time at no expense. More importantly, CCA gives municipalities a choice over the energy source, with the option to select renewables over fossil fuels.

Competitors’ cheaper, greener power may incentivize utility companies to deliver a better product. If consumers want affordable and renewable energy, the utility’s rational choice would be to invest heavily in renewables and reduce rates. Competition spurs innovation and growth, benefiting all parties.

Here at TBR News Media, we hold that local governments must be highly active and potent and challenge the centralized bureaucracies in Albany and Washington when those fail to deliver meaningful results for our communities. For too long, state-regulated utilities have not done enough to counteract the effects of climate change.

A U.S. Energy Information Administration report notes, “In 2021, renewable sources and nuclear power, together, supplied 54% of New York’s total in-state generation from utility-scale and smallscale facilities.” For New York state to reach its energy goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the report indicates that figure must climb to 70% by 2030.

To meet this task, local governments must do their part, negotiating on behalf of their residents for 100% renewable energy. CCA offers our local officials the means to fulfill this end.

The Town of Brookhaven recently instituted a CCA program for a two-year fixed rate on natural gas prices. Given the volatility of today’s international gas markets, Brookhaven’s program has potential cost benefits.

However, the town has only dipped its toe into the greater CCA dialogue. A gas-exclusive program offers merely the financial rewards of the CCA model without the reduced greenhouse gas emissions. We encourage Brookhaven leaders to study the Town of Southampton’s model, where electricity may soon be procured from 100% renewable sources.

In the meantime, other municipalities should take a close look at CCA. The portside Village of Port Jefferson — already grappling with the hazardous effects of coastal erosion and worsening flooding — could send a strong message by joining this effort. Other municipalities, such as the towns of Smithtown and Huntington, could do so as well. CCA is a cost-effective, market-friendly and environmentally sustainable policy. For residents and the natural environment, it is time for all our local leaders to take it seriously.

Letters to the Editor

Here’s to our health

I wish to thank Comsewogue Schools Superintendent Jennifer Quinn, our administrative staff and current school board who did a herculean job at Monday’s board of education meeting.

Quinn and board president Alexandra Gordon strongly held up our Comsewogue school community values. At every turn, they embodied courteous professionalism, authority and care in the face of unruly conduct by Moms for Liberty, Loud Majority and Proud Boys.

Many were inside the board room after their religious/political protest. Suffolk County police and school security staffed the building to help keep peace. Bored with the agenda of this regularly scheduled meeting, the protesters bubbled up, casting aspersions and demands.

When shouts filtered into the boardroom from the exterior entry doors, Quinn immediately saw to our Comsewogue student board representative and their parent, having them escorted through a side door to their vehicle. Remnants of Moms for Liberty and Loud Majority protesters began pounding the exterior doors as our board room filled to capacity. The police prevented them from storming the building.

Some signed up to address the board. Using practiced political and religious talking points, they couched their rhetoric in terms of “safety,” while their partners simultaneously belittled the needs of LGBTQI+ individuals including Comsewogue students and parents who were watching the streamed meeting.

At one point Moms for Liberty prayed aloud, one on their knees on the floor of the boardroom before the podium, in an effort to have their deity intercede for them. Throughout, our school district staff

WRITE TO US … We welcome your letters. They should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style and good taste. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include a phone number and address for confirmation.

Email letters to: editor1@tbrnewsmedia.com or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

and board members remained reliably considerate, lawful and responsible.

Disinformation wielded by hate groups has serious consequences. Some residents have absorbed a firehouse of its toxic cocktail. I trust the Comsewogue School District community is healthy enough to survive it.

Joan Nickeson Terryville

Democratic policies and pols bleeding NYS dry

Right after the personal political interests of New York state’s most powerful elected Democrats, the rest of us come “first.” Too harsh? Ask yourself if any of today’s top Dem “leaders,” along with their downballot groupies, have publicly argued against the failed policies largely responsible for NY’s last three major crises.

New Yorkers have suffered through a catastrophically mismanaged pandemic, a huge spike in violent crime and now a flood of illegal migrants. The first two came while the state was under single-party Dem rule, while the border “surge” came right after President Joe Biden [D] was sworn in.

No worries if you’re having trouble recalling Gov. Kathy Hochul [D] forcefully addressing any of these calamities as lieutenant governor or governor. She did nothing memorable or consequential. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer [D], who holed up in D.C. while senior living facilities were recording hundreds of COVID-19 deaths and NYPD officers were being attacked within blocks of his Brooklyn office, has remained MIA. Newly installed Brooklynite House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY8] has

mirrored Chuck’s 0 for 3 on the crises. Former NRA favorite Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D], who notably bragged about sleeping with a gun under her bed, has remained typically invisible and thus consistently inconsequential. But what would you expect from a political crew whose party’s programs have been widely responsible for the Empire State’s dramatic downturn. Albany’s deadly push to fill nursing homes with COVID patients along with criminal-friendly cashless bail “reforms” have proved disastrous. And now a wide-open southern border is taking its toll on New Yorkers.

After Dem politicians proudly declared the Empire State a sanctuary, New York City alone has been flooded with almost 50,000 illegal immigrants, creating problems we’re not prepared to solve. Those would include infrastructure overload, violent cartels peddling deadly fentanyl, a further decline in our quality of life and a financial burden amounting to billions of dollars we do not have.

A clear symptom of the contempt our state’s “ruling class” has for its tax-paying citizens was highlighted when we learned that border crashers wound up in 4-star Manhattan hotels on the public dime, while hardworking New York families struggle to make ends meet.

This upside down, backward and failed governing approach taken by NY’s Democratic politicians has not gone unnoticed by hundreds of thousands of now-former residents. Numbers released by the Census Bureau, using data representing the two years since the beginning of the pandemic, shows our state has lost over a half-million people.

In spite of discredited political schemes, our shrinking population and even the surprising 2022 GOP gains flipping the House, there’s no indication Hochul, Schumer, Jeffries and Gillibrand, along with their party sycophants, have any plans to stop bleeding New York state dry.

That’s because, right after these woke, elitist, political masterminds, the rest of us come “first.”

Jim Soviero East Setauket

Comsewogue High School, above. File photo

Chores I’d like an artificial intelligence to tackle for me

I’m really writing this. Or am I?

Now that I’ve seen artificial intelligence in action, I know that the system, such as it is, can write impressive pieces in much shorter time than it takes me to write a column or even this sentence.

Grocery shopping: I’m sure I get similar foods each week. Maybe my AI system could not only buy the necessary and desired food items, but perhaps it could reduce the ones that are unhealthy or offer new recipes that satisfy my food preferences.

Dishes: I’m not looking for a robot akin to “The Jetsons,” but would love to have a system that removed the dirt and food from my dishes, put them in the dishwasher, washed them and then put them away. An enhanced system also might notice when a dish wasn’t clean and would give that dish another wash.

over-the-counter supplies, such as band-aids. Perhaps it could also pick out new birthday and greeting cards that expressed particular sentiments in funny yet tasteful ways for friends and family who are celebrating milestone birthdays or are living through other joyful or challenging times.

Still, it’d be helpful to have an AI system that recognizes these regular needs and coordinates an optimal time (given my schedule and the time it’ll take to travel to and from these events) to ensure I don’t miss an appointment and to minimize the effort necessary.

For the inconveniences, an AI system would help by:

BY DANIEL DUNAIEF

And yet, I don’t want a machine to write for me or to reach out to you. I prefer the letter by letter, word by word approach I take and would like to think I earn the smile, frown or anything in between I put on your face as a result of the thinking and living I’ve done. However, I do see opportunities for AI to become the equivalent of a personal assistant, taking care of needed conveniences and reducing inconveniences. For conveniences, how about if AI did the following:

Laundry: Okay, I’ll admit it. I enjoy folding warm laundry, particularly in the winter, when my cold hands are starting to crack from being dry. Still, it would save time and energy to have a laundry system that washed my clothes, folded them and put them away, preferably so that I could see and access my preferred clothing.

Pharmacy: I know this is kind of dangerous when it comes to prescriptions, but it’d be helpful to have a system that replenished basic,

Staying on hold: At some point, we’ve all waited endlessly on hold for some company to pick up the phone to speak to us about changing our flights, scheduling a special dinner reservation or speaking with someone about the unusual noise our car makes. Those “on hold” calls, with their incessant chatter or their nonstop hold music, can be exasperating. An AI system that waited patiently, without complaint or frustration and that handed me the phone the moment a person picked up the call, would be a huge plus.

Optimize necessary updates: Car inspections, annual physicals, oil changes, and trips to the vet can and do go on a calendar.

how to have fun with our ads

Send reminders to our children: Life is full of balances, right? Too much or too little of something is unhealthy. These days, we sometimes have to write or text our kids several times before we get to speak with them live. An AI system might send them a casual, but loving, reminder that their not-so-casual but loving parents would like to speak with them live.

Provide a test audience: In our heads, we have the impulse to share something funny, daring or challenging, like, “hey, did you get dressed in the dark” or “wow, it must be laundry day.” Sure, that might be funny, but an AI system designed to appreciate humor in the moment — and to have an awareness of our audience — might protect us from ourselves. Funny can be good and endearing, but can also annoy.

BY LEAH S. DUNAIEF

There is something new, and I hope you will find exciting, in this issue of the newspaper. If you will look at the advertisement for Elegant Eating on page 9 for those of you that get The Times of Smithtown or the back cover for The Village Times Herald, you will see a QR code within the border of the ad. Run your mobile phone camera over the code, and it will open up to a 30-second video.

The new addition, in effect, turns the flat, two-dimensional print ad into a talking motion picture, however briefly. This gives significantly extra punch

to the ad. It’s also fun for the reader.

We will repeat this for the other four newspapers, The Times of Huntington & Northport, The Village Beacon Record, The Times of Middle Country and The Port Times Record next week.

We can, of course, offer the same process for news stories. An article about someone newsworthy can carry a QR code that then permits a live viewing of that person speaking to the viewer.

For now, we will concentrate on providing this service to advertisers, refining the process as we go along. And we have priced this offering accordingly to allow many business people to afford coming aboard.

In addition to viewing the short on a mobile phone, the video will also run on the home page of our TBRnewsmedia website under the banner, “Video spotlight on

business.” Our website has approximately 150,000 viewers per month. Further, the advertisers can add the video to their own web page if they would like. Advertisers should check with their sales reps for more information and to get started.

In adding this new feature, we hope to have a meaningful interaction between print and the web. Print, of course, is being challenged as digital news and advertising have lessened to some extent the dominance of print. With this new service, it is our intention to bring the best of both worlds to the advertising side and also the news side of our media output.

The value of print, with its responsibility for vetting and fact checking both stories and ads, cannot be overstated in this present climate of enormous misinformation on the web. In bringing print to the web, and the benefits of the web to print, we hope to

engage our readers further and serve our local communities. We also hope, by being innovative, to help our bottom line.

We know communities need local news outlets to inform and protect them, as well as to hold a mirror up to record their daily lives and achievements. Towns where newspapers have failed in the last decade are now referred to as news deserts and have suffered for their loss. Ill-considered developments, poorly sited landfills and unfortunate actions by unworthy local government officials have been only some of the consequences, with no strong voice to give outcry on behalf of the people. Many energetic journalists have been thrown out of work. We believe the key to survival in this age is to embrace change and join with its best aspects.

Hence our latest enhancement for you.

BUSINESS MANAGER

DIRECTOR

Beth Heller Mason

PRODUCTION

Janet Fortuna

Sharon Nicholson

CLASSIFIEDS DIRECTOR & SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

Sheila Murray

Sandi Gross

CIRCULATION & LEGALS

MANAGER

Courtney Biondo

INTERNET STRATEGY DIRECTOR

Rob Alfano

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER

Kathryn Mandracchia

D. None of the above

Here’s

Beaten but stiLl alive

Wildcats’ undefeated streak broken in exhibition game against Whitman

Photo by Bill Landon