PSEGLI Destroying Historic Town

 PSEGLI has stormed East Hampton town, raping and pillaging the very essence  of its soul. It is destroying the beauty and esthetics of one of the most beautiful villages in all of the United States. Our Main Beach was rated number one in the country last year.

In the village of East Hampton, the 6-mile high-tension line is being strung down quaint, tiny village streets less than 25 feet from children's bedrooms. These 61 foot toxic poles continue down East Hampton town roads passed historic sites and scenic vistas.

PSEGLI has created a strategy that is pitting ratepayer against ratepayer. This shouldn't be about ratepayers fighting each other.

I believe that the issue is the following: PSEG has created a lucrative deal with LIPA and our Governor. The utility is a subsidiary of a NJ subsidiary that is a subsidiary of the parent holding company, the Public Service Electric Group Company that is located in NJ. When Governor Cuomo gave them a long term agreement, 12 years if I'm not mistaken, he gave them the authority to invest their capital on Long Island and in turn he provided them with the opportunity to realize a return on their investments. What happens to those profits? My position is that the entire burden to shoulder the costs of this project should be paid for by the stockholders of PSEG, not the ratepayers.

I further believe that PSEG has fabricated the idea that we are in need of additional energy to get us through the summer of 2014. It should be noted that we had no brown-outs during the summer of 2013.

PESG wants the ratepayers to bury the lines once they've completed the project. This will increase their profits once again. After they've damaged our environment, depreciated our property values, butchered and killed our trees, damaged our esthetics, polluted our groundwater and soil, and exposed us to numerous health risks associated with high-tension wires, their profits will go back to NJ - an economic leak for Long Island's economy.

Let the stockholders shoulder the burden of these costs.

Helene Forst, Chair

Long Island Businesses For Responsible Energy, Inc. (LIBFRE)