LIPA trustee Drew Biondo resigns, citing 'undue influence' of PSEG lobbyists

With LIPA board votes on a long-term contract to operate the Long Island electric grid and a new chief executive just weeks away, LIPA trustee Drew Biondo resigned his post Monday, expressing "significant concerns about the undue influence of PSEG lobbyists."

In a letter to the Long Island Power Authority Monday morning, Biondo, who is assistant deputy commissioner for intergovernmental relations for the Suffolk County Police Department, wrote he was leaving on the eve of those significant votes because "it is apparent to me that rigorous oversight is no longer valued."

He wrote he became aware the state Assembly had selected his replacement in early January.

Biondo cited the influence of PSEG lobbyists, among others, in "shaping decisions regarding the governance and operation" of LIPA, a state authority whose board is controlled by five appointees of Gov. Kathy Hochul. (The Senate and Assembly majority each have two seats.) Biondo’s term technically expired in December, but he noted it has been "customary" to allow board members to serve on a holdover basis, sometimes for years.

"This influence undermines the independence and objectivity required for effective oversight," wrote Biondo, who has a combined six years on LIPA’s board, including as a State Senate and, most recently, an Assembly appointee. "Decisions that should prioritize the interests of ratepayers and the long-term sustainability of the grid are instead subject to external pressures that compromise the authority’s mission. Such interference erodes public confidence and is not in the best interest of rate payers."

Newsday has reported PSEG spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying against a bill that would have transitioned LIPA to a fully public utility, a bill that died in the State Legislature last year. Rodney Dickens, whom the LIPA board previously rejected as a candidate to be chief operating officer of PSEG Long Island, remains an executive adviser with "strategic oversight" of the Long Island division. He was also a state-registered lobbyist for PSEG.

PSEG spokeswoman Katy Tatzel, in an email, said, "We have not seen the letter. We leave it to LIPA to comment on board matters." 

Gordon Tepper, a spokesman for Hochul, in an email said, "I'm deferring to LIPA on this one." 

LIPA, in a statement, said it had "not been notified of any new appointments" to its board. "We thank Mr. Biondo for his service on the LIPA Board," spokeswoman Jen Hayen wrote.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn’t respond.

Biondo in the past has challenged PSEG on its lobbying, its performance during Tropical Storm Isaias and the years of delays in separating LIPA computer systems from those of PSEG’s parent in New Jersey.

In an interview, Biondo said he became aware in recent weeks that a Long Island Assemblyman had handpicked his replacement: attorney Anthony La Pinta, with whom he said he’d spoken. (La Pinta didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.) 

His pending replacement comes as LIPA is narrowing candidates for a full-time replacement for interim chief executive John Rhodes, who joined LIPA last year after the resignation of 10-year LIPA veteran Tom Falcone. Rhodes had been chairman of the state Public Service Commission when LIPA chairwoman Tracey Edwards had been a PSC commissioner. Newsday has reported Carrie Meek Gallagher, director of the Long Island office of the state Department of Public Service, is a front-runner in the CEO search. DPS is the administrative arm of the PSC.

When Rhodes was appointed interim CEO last March, Biondo was the lone vote against it, saying Rhodes' appointment "fell out of the sky, overnight and I think it’s a bit presumptuous of whoever appointed him — I understand it was the governor — to assume that because you make a recommendation, that we are going to rubber stamp it. At least I am not."

Another then-holdover trustee, Laureen Harris, an appointee of the governor, abstained from the vote approving Rhodes’ appointment. She was off the board before LIPA trustees' meeting in May. Biondo at the time noted Harris "spoke truth to power," and asked "tough questions" as a trustee. Harris, an attorney who is president of the Association for a Better Long Island, has since been appointed to the Empire State Development board.

LIPA trustee Dominick Macchia, a Senate appointee who also abstained from the Rhodes vote, in an interview Monday noted Biondo was "a guy who asked some very hard questions" while on the board, "and I don't know how well that sat with the chair and the CEO."

Macchia, who is an international representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and treasurer of the Long Island Federation of Labor, added, "Drew, since the time I met him, only cared what was best for the ratepayers of Long Island. He will be missed in that [board] room." IBEW represents thousands of unionized PSEG workers. 

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.