By Scott Brinton
, as did the project's detractors, most of whom called on LIPA to "repower," or upgrade, the Island's existing oil and natural-gas power plants to improve efficiency rather than pursue alternative energy.
Repowering advocates brandished placards, and both sides spoke before the LIPA board. Before the controversy unfolded, however, the board took considerable time to pay homage to Richard Kessel of Merrick, the colorful, occasionally embattled president and CEO of LIPA, who was to step down on Oct. 7.
Kevin Law, a former Suffolk County deputy county executive and a former attorney with Nixon Peabody LLP of Garden City, was set to take LIPA's helm as president and CEO on Monday, having been appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. For nearly a year, Law had served as LIPA's unpaid chairman.
Law, 47, will be paid a salary of $295,000. Kessel received $215,000.
Law recently dismissed Florida Power & Light's plans to build a 40-turbine wind farm off Jones Beach, citing the project's rising costs as the reason. FP&L had projected construction of the wind farm to cost $356 million, but with rising steel prices and a shortage of wind-turbine parts in the U.S., that figure rose to nearly $800 million. A study by Pace Global Energy Services, released in August, showed that the project would cost average ratepayers an additional $2.50 a month over the next 20 years.
Both sides in the wind farm debate wondered whether the LIPA board would vote to kill the project last week. Kessel had contended in recent weeks that only the board could officially sideline the wind farm. But he also said there really was no project to kill, because LIPA had not entered into a contract with FP&L to construct the wind farm. In the end, the board took no action on the project on Tuesday.
Media speculation about relations between Kessel and Law had swirled in recent months. Had the wind farm controversy caused a rift between the two, who are longtime friends? Law took great pains on Tuesday to show that it had not. He wore a 14-year-old, blue and orange "County Executive Kessel" button on his suit jacket, and explained that he became friends with Kessel when Kessel ran for county executive in 1993, losing in a primary.
Despite their disagreement on the wind farm, Law said, the two remain close. "Our friendship was tested at times," he said. "There were people who tried to put a wedge between us."
The new LIPA president also said that Kessel "has been a great public servant to Long Island. You may not have agreed with what he was trying to do, but his heart was always in the right place."
Kessel told Law, "You're a gentleman. I really appreciate all the support you've given me. ... I support you 100 percent."
Law later jokingly presented Kessel with a miniature golden parachute, noting that as president and CEO of a public utility, that's about all Kessel could expect as a parting gift from the company. Kessel, who is known for poking fun at himself, put the parachute on his head and smiled widely.
Kessel, a former consumer advocate with a master's degree in government and political science from Columbia University, grew up in Merrick. He lived in Bellmore for two decades before moving back to his hometown.
He rose to prominence in the 1980s when fighting construction of the failed Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant in Suffolk County, a project undertaken by the now defunct Long Island Lighting Company. Kessel became a leader in the movement to shut down the nuclear plant before it went online. With public fear rising after meltdowns at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union, the Shoreham plant never opened. Many cited the lack of a viable escape route off Long Island as a reason to forgo the nuclear option.
LILCO's failure to open the Shoreham plant helped to hasten the private utility's demise. Kessel was first appointed chairman of LIPA in 1989, before it became a utility, in order to lead the effort to decommission the Shoreham plant. Nine years later, he oversaw LIPA's takeover of LILCO.
During his tenure as LIPA's chairman, and later as its president and CEO, Kessel oversaw installation of 1,800 megawatts of new power -- enough to light 1.8 million homes. He said his top priority as LIPA's chief remained constant over the years: keeping Long Islanders' lights on.
LIPA board Trustee John Fabio said the power authority has become "one of the best-run overhead utilities in New York state." Since LIPA took over from LILCO, the company has spent some $2 billion upgrading the Island's electric grid to improve reliability. When the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto battered Long Island in 2006, causing 64,000 power outages, service was restored to the majority of customers within 48 hours, while other parts of New York needed a week to get the lights back on, Fabio said.
He added, "Richard Kessel may have his share of critics, but those who curse him will not do so in the dark because, true to his word, he kept the lights on."
Trustee Larry Elovich said LIPA became Kessel's "heart and soul."
Kessel encouraged repowering and alternative-energy proponents to make peace. "We should never pit repowering against renewables against [energy] efficiency," he said. "There is no cheap way to do renewables, repowering or energy efficiency. It's impossible. ... It's going to take two decades to do a lot of this stuff."
Kessel said he's unsure what he will do in the future. He's taking time off to explore his options, both in government and the private sector.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
