L.I. Power Supplier Giving Money Back To Customers

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The Long Island Power Authority made a mistake and now the company is paying the price.

The power supplier overcharged $129 million and overcollected $136 million from its customers so now, by law, they're giving it all back.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reports on the give backs

"We realized that we have to project what our fuel and purchase power costs are. So—since gas has been a cheaper commodity—pretty much we used gas of all of last year and we're in a position where we overcollected from our customers and we're returning it back to our customers," LIPA spokesperson Vanessa Baird Streeter said.

LIPA began the givebacks on Jan. 1, but on April 1, there will be another 1.9 percent reduction in bills to make up for the overcharging.

"$136 million is part of the 4.6 percent reduction in the power supply charge that we gave to customers in the beginning of 2011. Our customers are also going to see a 1.9 percent reduction their bills," Streeter said.

The state Senate has scheduled an April 7 meeting on LIPA's overcollecting and overcharging.