Ex-LIPA trustee Drew Biondo urges Gov. Hochul to release findings of IG probe

A former LIPA trustee whose resignation from the board last year helped trigger a state investigation of the utility is urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to order the release any findings from the probe following a year of "deeply troubling" revelations.

In a letter to Hochul, Drew Biondo, who was twice appointed to the board, by the state Assembly and Senate, said that after being interviewed as part of a state inspector general’s investigation begun last year, "I and the public have waited," to no avail.

"There has been no public report, no findings and no explanation," he wrote. Nevertheless, he added, "In the absence of transparency, what has emerged is deeply troubling."

Hochul spokesman Ken Lovett did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Biondo pointed to revelations about two former senior-level executives of LIPA who were terminated in 2025 after serving on a committee that recommended Houston-based Quanta Services be awarded a new contract to manage the LIPA grid. Most LIPA trustees rejected that recommendation, canceled the bidding process, and awarded a $493 million, five-year contract extension to PSEG Long Island. 

"It is now publicly known that a senior LIPA executive alleged he was ostracized and ultimately terminated after refusing to alter bid scores in favor of PSEG," Biondo wrote. Newsday has reported that former LIPA executive vice president Billy Raley made those allegations as part of a notice of claim he filed against LIPA,

Biondo said he also predicted to the inspector general the outcome of the bidding process, favoring PSEG and the appointment of a new top LIPA executive months before they took place.

In an email Monday, Inspector General Lucy Lang's press office said the she is "committed to conducting thorough, independent and comprehensive investigations into all complaints that fall under our jurisdiction." 

The inspector general's office called it "our standard policy" not to comment on the existence or status of investigations "to protect the confidentiality of complainants, witnesses, and subjects of any allegations." The inspector general's office releases information about its work only when a "formal finding of wrongdoing is made."

Hochul appointed Lang inspector general in 2021. Last year, inspector general's office spokesman Michael Cook, in a note to Newsday, noted, "LIPA is under our jurisdiction and we would investigate if there were any complaints brought to us" concerning the authority. Biondo met with inspector general investigators last spring, after resigning with a publicly released letter that raised questions about the LIPA bidding process and PSEG lobbying efforts.

LIPA officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a financial statement in 2025, LIPA disclosed that it is "aware that the New York State Office of the Inspector General has opened an inquiry into certain matters related to LIPA." It noted the scope and timing of the IG inquiry "is unknown at this time," and that it was "not aware of any aspect of the IG inquiry that could have an adverse impact on the operating results or financial condition of LIPA, and any such impacts cannot be predicted at this time."

Biondo, who copied his letter to the inspector general's office, wrote to Hochul that much is already known: that LIPA initiated its own internal ethics probe "following claims that a superior bid had been rejected" in favor of PSEG, and that both terminated officials also were interviewed by the inspector general.

"This sequence of events raises serious and unavoidable questions about the integrity of public institutions on Long Island and New York State," Biondo wrote.

Biondo urged Hochul to "ensure that the findings of this investigation are disclosed, or that a clear explanation is provided to the public. Long Islanders have a right to know whether their public utility is being operated in their interest — or under the influence of forces beyond their control."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.