The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) announced a proposal to modernize its electric rates for residential customers in 2024 with a standard Time-of-Day (TOD) Rate and an optional Super Off-Peak Rate. These new rates will help customers save money and support the transition of Long Island and the Rockaways to clean, affordable energy. Customers will still have the option to stay on a flat rate. Customers who try the new rates will receive a 12-month “Bill Protection Guarantee,” which means they will receive a refund if they would have paid less on a flat rate.
With the new TOD Rate, customers pay different rates for electricity based on when they use it. Electric rates are higher during weekdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (peak) but lower all other hours of the day and on weekends and holidays (off-peak). With the Super Off-Peak Rate, rates are further discounted in the (super off-peak) hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The plan would immediately reduce rates for more than 80 percent of customers without any changes to how or when they use electricity. Under this proposal, customers would have the ability to save even more money and support a cleaner electric grid by making small changes in their daily routine by conducting energy-intensive activities – such as doing laundry or charging electric cars – in off-peak hours. For instance, a customer on the TOD Rate could save approximately $4 per month by doing their laundry and $43 per month by charging their electric car during off-peak hours.
“Time-of-Day Rates are an important rate modernization reform that will help lower customer bills and advance clean energy,” said Thomas Falcone, Chief Executive Officer of LIPA. “Once adopted, this plan will save more than 80 percent of customers money while supporting our clean energy transition by reducing carbon emissions and taking the burden off the electric grid during the highest times of demand.”
David G. Schieren, New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) Board President and EmPower Solar CEO, added, “LIPA’s proposed Time-of-Day Rate proposal is a logical step to modernize electric rates that can save customers money and accelerate clean energy options such as solar and battery storage. The solar industry is looking forward to participating in a robust stakeholder process and continuing to partner with LIPA on this initiative to build the utility grid of the future.”
Most customers will pay the same or less under the TOD Rate or Super Off-Peak Rate without changing their electricity usage or habits because most customers already conduct most activities during discounted off-peak periods, which make up 88 percent of the hours throughout the year.
To help customers transition to the new plan, LIPA is proposing a one-year Bill Protection Guarantee for a customer’s first year on the TOD Rate (or Super Off-Peak Rate). If after 12 months a customer’s electric bill on the TOD Rate (or Super Off-Peak Rate) is higher than it would have been under the Flat Rate, LIPA will automatically refund the difference for the entire 12-month period.
The TOD proposal was developed with input from the New York Solar Energy Industries Alliance (NYSEIA), the Department of Public Service (DPS), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and consumer advocates such as the Utility Intervention Unit (UIU), and the Public Utilities Law Project (PULP).
LIPA invites all interested stakeholders to provide input on its rate modernization proposals. There will be two public hearings on February 21, 2023, where customers can sign up to speak. LIPA will also accept written public comments until February 27, 2023. Written comments can be submitted by emailing TODpubliccomments@lipower.org. The proposal is scheduled for consideration at the March 29, 2023 meeting of the LIPA Board of Trustees in Uniondale, New York. Consideration by the Board of rate and tariff changes are held in open session, and the public is always invited to attend and speak. For more information on how to attend and participate in public hearings and Board meetings, please visit lipower.org.
Should the proposal be approved by the LIPA Board at the March meeting, there will be extensive communication to all customers before they would be transitioned into any new plan, including 90, 60, and 30-day notices, which will include information about the plans and how to optimize their rates as well as the Bill Protection Guarantee.
ABOUT LIPA
LIPA is a not-for-profit public utility with a purpose to serve our customers and community by providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy to Long Island and the Rockaways. LIPA contracts with PSEG Long Island to manage its electric system to performance standards specified by its Board of Trustees under a four-year contract.
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