CUOMO MOVES TO BLOCK LILCO RATE HIKE UTILITY SEEKS $97.7M INCREASE AFTER SHOREHAM DEAL DIES.(Local)

Byline: Associated Press

Gov. Mario M. Cuomo on Saturday ordered a state consumer agency to petition the Public Service Commission to reject the Long Island Lighting Co.' s request for a $97.7 million rate increase.

Cuomo also ordered Consumer Protection Board Executive Director Richard M. Kessel to find other ways the PSC could block LILCO "from using its customers' money to pursue an operating license" for the controversial Shoreham nuclear power plant.

"If LILCO's rate proposal is implemented, ratepayers will be forced to subsidize LILCO's pursuit of a license for Shoreham," Cuomo said in a press release.

"LILCO's new management is …