New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Thursday released a report that examined the New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) finances, along with money it transferred to support the state budget, and NYPA expenses related to employee benefits and travel, including a private plane.
“The state regularly relies on NYPA for budget relief, which could pose future challenges for NYPA’s ability to deliver low-cost power,” DiNapoli said in a news release. “New Yorkers pay some of the highest electricity rates in the country and need the rate relief that NYPA could provide if it appropriately focused its resources. This report also reviews executive and travel expenses incurred by NYPA.”
In examining NYPA’s finances, the report found that more than one third, or about 35 percent, of its 1,636 employees at earned $100,000 or more during the state’s 2012 fiscal year, reflecting 48 percent of NYPA’s total compensation.
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Of those, 58 employees earned more than $150,000, the report said.
By comparison, just 14 percent of all state public-authority employees earn more than $100,000, and only 8 percent of state employees earn as much, according to DiNapoli.
The current state budget authorized a payment of $90 million from NYPA to the state, continuing a history of diverting NYPA funds to cover state expenses. Such payments, amounting to more than $1.2 billion in the past decade, may have been a factor in NYPA’s recent request to increase transmission charges paid by customers statewide, DiNapoli said.
The largest public-power utility in the U.S., NYPA operates 16 generating facilities statewide, administers low-cost power-allocation programs, promotes energy efficiency and is a “key” player in the state’s efforts to enhance its electrical infrastructure, according to DiNapoli.
For the 2012 fiscal year, NYPA reported $2.8 billion in annual revenue, $2.6 billion in expenditures and $1.75 billion in debt.
NYPA response
The State Comptroller’s report “misinterprets key facts and ignores reforms” that the New York Power Authority has instituted over the last two and a half years, NYPA said in a statement it issued Thursday in response to the DiNapoli report.
NYPA salaries are “comparable” to other large public-power utilities in the U.S., but “significantly lower” than investor-owned electric utilities in New York, the Authority said.
The Authority “must” pay competitive salaries in order to attract and retain qualified personnel to operate its “highly technical and complex” generation and transmission facilities, it contends.
It also claims low power rates are “unaffected” by its financial contributions to the state of New York. The agency has significantly reduced the contributions since 2011, which have become “more predictable” going forward, according to NYPA.
For transportation needs, NYPA notes it also utilizes a “small eight-seat prop plane.”
NYPA engineers and operating personnel use the plane in monitoring, maintaining, and upgrading the Authority’s 16 power plants, more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines, and 14 large substations across the state.
Personnel use the plane “only after a cost-benefit analysis of other modes of travel” before each flight, the Authority said.
The agency “would have been glad to clear up these misconceptions,” claiming DiNapoli’s office never contacted NYPA while assembling the report.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
