BEACON RECORD The Village
Mount Sinai • Miller Place • Sound Beach • rocky Point • ShorehaM • Wading river • leiSure country april 23, 2015
volume 30, no. 39
$1.00
‘Strike a pose’ at the Heckscher
Also: ‘Violet’ opens at the SCPA, ‘The Littlest Pirate’ debuts at Theatre Three, singer/songwriter Johnny Cuomo
PAGE B1 Photo by Barbara Donlon
REFUSinG To BE SiLEnT: locals protested recently enacted education reforms in front of state Sen. ken lavalle’s Mount Sinai office on tuesday. above, Justin rowe, 6, and his brother, Brayden, 7, students in the Miller Place school district, attend the rally. See the story on page a11.
Town questions utility’s proposed rate increase By erika karP
MS and RP school board elections Learn about the candidates
PAGES A5 & A7
Brookhaven officials announced last week that the town is seeking permission from the New York State Public Service Commission to intervene on PSEG Long Island’s pending application to the commission for a rate increase. At a press conference on April 16, Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and councilmembers Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), Dan Panico (R-Manorville) and Neil Foley (R-Blue Point) expressed their concerns about the increase in the delivery charge portion of customers’ bills — a nearly 4 percent bump each year for three years — set to kick in next year. The officials said they believe PSEG Long Island hasn’t adequately justified the increase, which would have a “devastating impact,” on Long Island residents. “We want to make sure that our voices are heard — the ratepayers in Brookhaven Town are
‘We want to make sure that our voices are heard.’ — ED RomainE
Photo by Erika Karp
Supervisor ed romaine and councilwoman Jane Bonner speak against PSeg long island’s proposed rate increase.
heard,” Romaine said. By legally intervening, according to attorney Rob Calica, of Garden City-based law firm Rosenberg Calica & Birney LLP, town officials would have access to filings and documents that are otherwise not public. “If the town doesn’t intervene, it’s a commenter,” said
Calica, who the town retained to handle the matter. “The comment period is closed. If the town doesn’t intervene, the records that are unavailable for public review remain unavailable. If the town intervenes, it elevates its status from commenter to a party.” The utility stated in its pro-
posal that it would invest in maintaining and modernizing the electric system; enhancing technology for managing customer accounts; improving infrastructure to better prepare for and respond to storms; and improving system reliability. The town joins Suffolk County Comptroller John M. Kennedy Jr., who asked to act as an intervener in an April 10 letter to the New York State Department of Public Service, the department which contains the commission. According to PSEG Long Island’s application, the threeyear increase will amount to an approximate $221 million increase in revenues. In his letter, Kennedy called PSEG LONG ISLAND continued on page A15