Newsday from New York, New York • A12

BY MARK HARRINGTON mark.harrington@newsday.com Caithness Long Island En- ergy and its parent have filed an antitrust suit against PSEG, charging that the New Jersey company and its Long Island subsidiary conspired to clude from the Long Island energy market by rejecting plans for a new on-Island power plant. In a 36-page filing in federal court in Brooklyn, Caithness said it has suffered of millions of dollars of as a result of alleged ac- tions, and is seeking several times that amount in relief. It has hired noted litigator David Boies to argue the case. In a statement, Boies said, believe PSEG has acted improp- erly in preventing Caithness from building a new, clean, effi- cient power plant on Long Is- land which would reduce Long dependence on less ef- ficient and more costly power produced off Island, including by A senior PSEG official coun- tered, Caithness would have been viewed as a big mis- take and a move in the wrong di- given the focus on renewables. economics he said.

very confident we made the right deci- sion. We plan to defend Caithness, which operates a 350-megawatt plant contracted to the Long Island Power Author- ity in Yaphank, said ef- forts over four years its LIPA-approved plan to open the second plant, to be more than twice as large as the first. Last year, PSEG advised LIPA to reject the plant, which it said would cost ratepayers $2.9 bil- lion, because it was unneeded, given projection that no new plants would be required until 2038. LIPA expects an in- flux of renewable energy over time, including wind turbines off the South Shore, to displace power from conventional plants. PSEG said the Caithness an- titrust suit is and that the companies will defend against Long focus is on doing right for the customer and saving them their statement said.

analysis of Long power needs, which was re- viewed by the State Department of Public Service, showed that no new generation is Caithness, in its suit, says the new plant would have allowed LIPA to retire and ineffi- cient while saving up- ward of $1 billion in costs. At the time the 750-megawatt Caith- ness II was proposed, officials ar- gued it was necessary to help LIPA rebuild the old National Grid plants. LIPA recently re- jected plans even to rebuild the old plants, saying the work was too costly and unnecessary. The suit charges PSEG and its parent engaged in a year to the Caithness II plan, drafting an energy blueprint for LIPA power resources that first de- layed the new Caithness plant, then nixed it altogether. Caithness charges that by de- railing the Caithness II plan, PSEG forced LIPA to rely more heavily on off-Island energy to operate the grid, own plants, with PSEG reaping the It said PSEG has sented and hidden key in its dealings with LIPA, including its conflict of re- lating to its alleged profit motive.

PSEG in the past has denied the charge, noting that its plants rep- resent only a small portion of the energy available from the re- gional energy market from which LIPA imports energy. Caithness alleged that had PSEG not interfered with its plans for the new plants, energy imports from off Long Is- land would have declined, sulting in tens of millions of dol- lars in lost revenue to In the year since LIPA for- mally rejected Caithness II, Caithness has offered a plan for a 600-megawatt plant that is seek- ing approval from Brookhaven Town, which voted last month to lift a restriction on it. ew York American Water officials promised not too long ago to restore customer confi- dence in the privately held utility. The promise came in early July, after state Department of Public Service investigators found that company employees intended to state regu- lators during 2016 rate-increase hearings that ended up signifi- cantly increasing water bills. August, and customer complaints about the company now are being scrutinized by theofficesof NassauCounty Dis- trict Attorney Madeline Singas, Nassau Comptroller Jack Schnir- man, state Attorney General Bar- bara Underwood and state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Requests by consumers to probe American Water also have gone to the U.S. office for New Eastern District. The office, as is its practice, will neither confirm nor deny what, if anything, federal prosecutors are doing in response. Even Gov. Andrew M.

Cuomo weighed in during a recent visit to Long Island, saying, basic charge of the attorney gen- eral is consumer fraud and I think this very well might have been a case of consumer He continued, incredible sumers whohaveno idea that the rates increased and then they get a bill in the mail that announces a new rate structure after they used the water it work that way. If you want to issue a new rate structure, you have to tell me before you do it, not after used the The issue, in brief, is that American Water customers on North and South Shore have been surprised by in- creases in their bills. Sea Cliff customers, state offi- cials determined, were billed a portion of property taxes that American Water mistakenly overpaid. The company then compounded the damage and further damaged its credi- bility by waiting to disclose the error until after state Public Service Commission hearings on proposed rate increases. when the company said it would work to restore customer trust.

Then Mark Har- rington reported about cus- tomers across the ser- vice area who complained about surprises in their water bills some of which included charges exponentially higher than customers expected. Some questioned the accu- racy of new water meters. In response, one New York American Water official noted that the problem could be water leaks, or that the older meters could have been undercounting water use. Another said a com- pany review would include analysis of every customer that submitted an inquiry as well as a broader approach which will identify By then, local elected offi- cials were calling for more oversight. Customers were calling for creation of a pub- lic water company.

And county and state officials were beginning to launch LONG ISLAND Watercustomersup THE COLUMN Joye Brown joye.brown@newsday.com Caithness, stymied, sues PSEG Their ticket to ride Sadsidorela Lleeshi, 21, enjoys a surfboard ride with the assistance of instructor Adam Dufners as surf instructor Michael Casden stretches out his arms in welcome during an outing in Long Beach for patients with disabilities from the Hospital for Special Surgery. At far right, Angelo Pio, 10, of Manhattan rides a wave with the coaching of Cliff Skudin. A12 EW SD AY TH UR SD AY AU US 16 20 18 ne sd ay.