By Angela Marshall
Whether the money is returned to rate payers remains to be seen. The village has requested permission from the Public Service Commission to use the money to fund capitol projects, including a new electricity-supply line.
The Board of Trustees was told last year that the Long Island Power Authority's ability to transport electricity to the village would probably decrease every year, threatening the village's electric supply.
Since then, the board has been negotiating with LIPA over the use of a dormant line in Bellmore. Mayor Eugene Murray told residents at the Feb. 11 board meeting that the line will cost about $2 million.
If the PSC denies RVC's request to use the refund for capital projects, the village will have to borrow the funds for the line.
Although the village's own power plant can generate 30 megawatts of electricity, RVC administrators choose to first import Niagara Falls hydropower from the NYPA, which is cheaper. They use that power first and supplement it with the village's own power.
Even though the village electric department has a contract with NYPA until 2013, the electricity is delivered via LIPA's lines.
LIPA's ability to transmit that power to Rockville Centre has already begun to decline.
Last summer, LIPA capped the megawatts it could transport to Rockville Centre at 23, down about seven megawatts from the previous year.
Acting Village Administrator Michael Schusseim said he anticipates even greater cutbacks this summer.
Like most of Long Island, summer, when air conditioners are going, is the peak time for RVC power usage. The record peak was 50.5 MWs in 1999.
Although there is a finite size to the lines LIPA uses to transport electricity, there is no similar cap on Long Island's growing electricity needs. And, Bruce Humenik, an energy consultant hired by the village to study the problem, believes Rockville Centre will be given less of LIPA's line space each year. During a meeting with the Board of Trustees last year, Humenik said LIPA will probably favor areas like Lynbrook, which rely solely on them for power.
Humenik said the new line should sustain RVC's electric supply until 2004. Then more work will have to be done.
The board and administration are already looking at future options for solving the problem.
Schusseim hopes to have the new line up and running before the summer air conditioning season.
Deputy Mayor Wayne Lipton called the activation of the Bellmore line one of the most significant events for the village in the last few years. I, personally, was very worried.
