LIPA chairman Richard Kessel says customers angry about their soaring electric bills should look in the mirror. "We're all responsible for this, collectively," says Kessel.

He's right. It's just that some of us may be more responsible than others.

Kessel's remarks came at the end of a heat wave late last month and early this one. Kessel preferred to call the torrid temperatures and high humidity a "heat storm." At one point, Long Island's electricity usage hit a record peak of 5,800 megawatts, more than double the amount of power used during a winter day.

The lights stayed on in Nassau and Suffolk, which is unremarkable except in contrast to the performance of other utilities in the region. LIPA's wires are mostly overhead and therefore more vulnerable in wind storms than in storms created by hot air. And over the years, the power authority has steadily upgraded the threadbare transmission and distribution system left it by the ailing Long Island Lighting Co.

As a result, the Island's outages were few, very local - a block here and there - and averaged about four hours in duration. KeySpan, which maintains Long Island's system, did its job. LIPA's performance is in distinct contrast to the Consolidated Edison debacle in Queens and Westchester County, and significant and lengthy outages in Connecticut.

And does anyone think media maestro Kessel, unlike the missing-in-action Con Ed chief, would have been incommunicado during such an emergency? Certainly, he would have commandeered an all-news channel or, at least, handed out the bags of ice himself. So give credit where it's due.

The good news: We had no blackouts. The bad news: Those heat-wave bills are in the mail. And unless there's an immediate and high-powered campaign by LIPA to reduce energy usage - and a strong conservation effort by consumers in response - bills are likely to remain overheated for some time to come.

Long Islanders will pay higher bills in the next few weeks because they used more power for air conditioners, fans, pool pumps and everything else to keep themselves cool. It is too soon to tell whether the heat wave will deliver a double punch by causing rates to spike temporarily, too. While LIPA buys most of its power under long-term contracts to ensure the juice will be there at an established price, it also paid top dollar on the spot market to meet the stunningly high demand. LIPA anticipates it can absorb these extra costs by year's end; if not, the dreaded fuel adjustment surcharge will take the up escalator.

When LIPA hit peak usage on Aug. 3 at around 5 p.m., it represented a 10 percent jump over last summer's high - the highest year-to-year increase ever. If this voracious consumption continues, it will require the development of an ever-more-costly infrastructure and the higher overhead that comes with it.

Build we must

After the heat broke, there wasn't even time to open a window before Kessel said LIPA probably needed to expand its kingdom. He suggested another on-Island generating plant, even though a shovel has yet to hit the ground - or a natural-gas supply secured - for the just approved 350-megawatt Caithness facility near Yaphank. His other option was another undersea cable, similar to the current 65-mile Neptune project, which is scheduled to bring 660 megawatts of power from mid-Atlantic sources by next summer. LIPA, however, has not yet signed a contract with a utility to supply the electricity at the other end of that line.

These are all very costly projects, although just how costly, we don't know. Are we paying for chauffeured Rolls Royce service, when a more economical Acura would do?

One bright spot is the Cross Sound Cable from New Haven to Shoreham, which provides 330 megawatts daily. LIPA credits it with savings of $134 million since it went into operation three years ago. Will the current projects be as beneficial? The public hasn't been told the final price tags yet for Caithness and Neptune. Nor for what might be the most expensive megawatt of all: the controversial wind turbines off Jones Beach.

While Kessel's post-heat-storm wish list included repowering an existing plant, this tired promise again came without any specifics. Although the planned takeover of KeySpan by National Grid prompted a reworking of KeySpan's management contract with LIPA, a timetable for repowering must come as soon as a deal is finalized.

Demand, not supply

The same amount of muscle and resources that LIPA commits to supply-side thinking should be directed to reducing demand. Every region has normal growth and increased energy needs - it used to be considered a measure of prosperity. Our current inefficient use of energy, however, drives up its overall cost and makes the region less competitive.

Affluent Long Island's steroidal consumption is part of the problem. We are plugging in more electronics every day: flat panel TVs, computers, portable phones, and cell phone and iPod chargers. These items suck up juice even when turned off. An estimated 4 percent of all residential energy is used by TVs, an amount that will eventually double as more older sets are replaced with power-hungry big-screen models. And let's not forget those bigger houses with high ceilings and outdoor lighting so bright that a 747 could easily land in the driveway.

Simply put, Long Island, we are power pigs. For the lofty goal of reducing the nation's dependence on fossil fuels and the more prosaic one of lower bills, we need to use less electricity. For years, environmentalists have criticized Kessel for not using his bully pulpit to reduce demand. He is starting. At a media event last Thursday, Kessel criticized store owners in the Hamptons for keeping their doors open while blasting their air-conditioning. Scolding, however, will only go so far; the point needs to be backed up by specific incentives to modify behavior.

One plan in development is being called Efficiency Long Island, or ELI. Its purpose is to help businesses reduce usage. The target is reducing 500 megawatts - or, as Kessel puts it, "negawatts" - from the grid, That would be impressive.

Right now, LIPA is thinking of a 10-year phase-in for ELI; reducing that to five years would be better. ELI must also be independently directed, so that the businesses that benefit are not selected for their political connections.

Meter minders

While many utilities around the world are investing in "smart" meters, Kessel only recently said he would consider a pilot project for such devices, which provide real-time pricing. The meters can let customers know, for example, that running a dishwasher at 2 p.m. costs twice as much as waiting until 8 p.m. Many also allow Internet access to a customer's account, providing an hourly breakdown of power used and at what price. Meanwhile, Long Island is behind most of the country in introducing the most basic electronic meters, which eliminate the high labor costs of having a worker visit every house for a manual readout.

LIPA faults ratepayers for not demanding smart meters sooner. That's a dodge. There didn't seem to be much of a demand on Long Island for the nation's first offshore wind project, but on that novel and costly idea, LIPA is leading the way.

LIPA also dismisses a reduction initiative pioneered by California's utilities as too expensive. Called 20/20, the program gives residential and small business customers who cut usage by 20 percent during peak months (June through September) a 20-percent rebate on those summer bills. It has been successful on the West Coast for three years now.

Mirror, mirror

When those high bills come in the mail, Kessel says don't blame LIPA, blame yourself. But there is plenty of blame to go around. LIPA's little kingdom has grown magically, with little oversight on its spending decisions.

We waste an enormous amount of energy every day, yet there is little leadership to light the path of conservation. LIPA may have met the demand at its peak, but it has done little to stop us from going up the mountain.