NYPA Responds to Village Residents' Complaints Over Electric Hikes

After weeks of public outrage over hefty electric bill hikes — and no response from Greenport Mayor David Nyce — the New York Power Authority has reached out to comment on the issue.

"Village of Greenport electric customers pay these costs on their electric bills: operating costs for the village electric utility; New York Power Authority low-cost hydropower and incremental power to serve customers’ usage; and third-party transmission and other state electric grid-related charges. The most recent bill increase is driven by the increase in the third-party charges," said Connie Cullen, director of media relations/corporate communications for NYPA.

Residents are also asking questions about  another issue in village government.

"In November the board passed a resolution to approve an agreement with Genesys Engineering for services and approved a payment of $285,400 for work as outlined in the agreement," said Bill Swiskey.

Swiskey said he sent a Freedom of Information Act request for the document and was told that "the end result is that it does not yet exist. The scandal here is how do these fools approve an agreement without reading it, which they couldn't have, since by the clerk's admission it does not even exist yet?"

Requests for comment to Nyce and Village Clerk Sylvia Lazzari Pirillo were not immediately returned.

What questions do you have for the Greenport Village board? A monthly meeting takes place Monday night at 6 p.m. at the Third Street Firehouse. Will you be attending?