Over one-third of the employees at the New York Power Authority earn over $100,000 annually, according to an audit conducted by the New York State Comptroller's Office. While public officials have been quick to criticize, NYPA officials say the report ignores a series of recent reforms.
The Power Authority is a major utility bringing in billions of dollars a year from power sales and power transmission on its network.
“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. “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.”
There are 16 generating plants with Congressman Brian Higgins saying only the Niagara and Saint Lawrence power projects really make any money. He said this area should get more benefits from Niagara profits than it does now.
Deputy Comptroller Robert Ward says the authority is being studied to be sure it makes the best use of the public money it takes in.
"They certainly take in a lot of money, more than $2.5 billion in their most recent year," Ward told WBFO News. "They do have a significant role to play all across the state and we think it's important to continually look at how they are using the resources."
NYPA has also put more than $1 billion into the state treasury over the past decade.
In attacking the DiNapoli audit, the authority said the comptroller doesn't understand the way it operates. Officials argue that the number of well-paid staffers is needed to attract the skilled people the power system needs.
NYPA issued the following statement Thursday in response to the state audit:
August 8, 2013
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. If they had contacted us at any time during this process, we would have been glad to clear up these misconceptions.
NYPA makes the following points in response to the Comptroller’s report and press release:
--Contrary to the report, NYPA’s low power rates are unaffected by its financial contributions to New York State. The contributions have been significantly reduced since 2011 and have become more predictable going forward. Such contributions are not unique to NYPA. Other public power utilities around the country, including JEA (Northeast Florida), Salt River Project (Phoenix, Ariz), Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and CPS Energy (San Antonio, Texas), have been among those that have made contributions in their jurisdictions.
--NYPA has a small eight-seat prop plane—not a jet. The plane is used by NYPA engineers and operating personnel 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—and only after a cost-benefit analysis of other modes of travel before each flight. The NYPA plane has been of great value for transporting personnel to hard-to-get-to NYPA locations such as our large hydroelectric power plant, transmission lines and substations in Northern New York and for quickly dispatching engineering personnel in case of facility emergencies.
--The NYPA Travel Desk enforces government-rate fares for all employees and contractors and anyone who does business with NYPA. This ensures we have the most cost-effective travel arrangements and adhere to NYPA’s travel policies and procedures.
--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 State. NYPA must pay competitive salaries in order to attract and retain qualified personnel to run its highly technical and complex generation and transmission facilities.
--NYPA offers the lowest cost power in New York State to its customers, including businesses that commit to create and protect jobs.
