The Retail Energy Supply Association criticized PSEG Long Island's Utility 2.0 Revised Long Range Plan filed with the New York PSC for its focus on utility-offered value-added service and silence regarding customer choice.

RESA noted the, "moribund," retail market at LIPA by observing:

"Currently, based on the LIPA website there are only seven ESCOs authorized to operate in LIPA and it is our understanding that there has been a relatively insignificant level of migration of load to independent ESCOs. And with respect to small customers, retail access is basically non-existent. Thus, in more than 15 years there has been virtually no progress in bringing retail access to the LIPA consumer."

Of PSEG's Utility 2.0 plan for Long Island, RESA says, "The Plan itself provides no particular programmatic approach to animate retail markets and customer choice and in fact relegates the role of market forces generally and ESCOs to some unspecified future under the rubric of PSEG’s long term vision."

"Moreover, based upon LIPA’s dubious implementation and operation of the LI Choice retail access program, it is fairly clear that ESCOs and the Commission should have little confidence that the outcome of this Utility 2.0 effort will be much different than the lack of success of LI Choice," RESA said.

RESA also criticized PSEG's plan as it envisions a role for the utility in competitive services such as solar installations, home energy management programs, direct load control, CHP, energy rebates and retrofits, and battery storage projects.

"[T]he Plan reverts to a traditional utility centric model where PSEG Long Island would invest in and earn a return on various energy infrastructure projects that could otherwise be financed by the competitive markets, or, in the alternative, by lower cost tax-exempt debt issued by LIPA," RESA said of certain of these utility-offered initiatives.

See RESA's comments for more