CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

We need more diverse sources of energy. We need to reduce our electric bills. So why won't New York State allow businesses, schools, hospitals and other government entities to get serious about generating their own power?

That's the question Albany lawmakers were asked repeatedly yesterday on "Net Metering Day," as advocates for an intelligent energy policy tried to spark support for a law giving electrical power to the people.

Perhaps these bills, which make economic and environmental common sense, have languished because the legislators can't comprehend what exactly net metering means. Or maybe the state's private utilities, which stand to lose a few dollars if local generation becomes widespread, were more persuasive.

Well, we can help with the comprehension part. Right now, residential users who create their own solar, wind or biomass power can make their meters spin backward, reducing their bills. Extra power can be sold back to the electrical grid. More widespread benefits, however, will come only when huge power-users can play, too.

Lawmakers should get behind the expansive net metering bills sponsored by Assemb. Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) and Sen. Owen Johnson (R-West Babylon). While two local lawmakers are taking the lead in this fight, Long Island really doesn't need a new law to get started - LIPA is exempt from the regulations for private utilities.

Just 227 Nassau and Suffolk homeowners had the pleasure of getting a refund check last year, but Long Island Power Authority chief executive Kevin Law has decided to expand the program to all LIPA customers. That's just the kind of aggressive energy leadership the state needs.

Now it's Albany's turn.