LIPA official who initiated ethics complaint over contract process says he was fired

A LIPA official who is at the center of an ethics complaint against the authority and who has testified in the state inspector general’s investigation of the utility was fired on Wednesday after he declined to sign off on new performance metrics for PSEG, he told Newsday on Thursday.

Billy Raley, who until Wednesday was senior vice president of transmission and distribution for the Long Island Power Authority, was fired over the phone after a discussion with LIPA’s newly named chief executive, Carrie Meek Gallagher, he said.

"They tried to make the metrics easier" for PSEG, Raley said. "I replied back with what I thought they should be. They sent me another set of numbers" that he further disagreed with. "I said I will not sign off on this."

Shortly thereafter, Riley said, "I was told not to come back to the office. They told me they would pack my office belongings and send them to me."

LIPA spokeswoman Jennifer Hayen declined to discuss the firing, saying the authority does not comment on personnel matters.

Newsday has reported that PSEG fully met 49% of its metrics in 2024, missing key metrics for worker safety, average outage duration and frequency, and a computer migration.

"I know the metrics are not in a good spot and I think they wanted me gone" to complete the process, Raley said. "They could have called me in and said this isn’t working, let’s come to an agreement, but they didn’t do that."

Raley, speaking to Newsday from his car as he was moving his belongings from an apartment on Long Island to the Atlanta area, said he and another official initiated an ongoing ethics complaint with LIPA after refusing to buckle to pressure to lower scores for Quanta Services in the procurement process for a new manager for the Long Island electric grid. An outside law firm has been hired to conduct the probe, Newsday has reported.

Raley was one of three LIPA officials who reviewed bids by Quanta and PSEG and ultimately recommended the contract be awarded to Quanta. Six LIPA board members rejected the advice, and the board has agreed to an extension of PSEG’s contract.

Raley, 68, was fired just short of his fifth year at LIPA. He said his firing came despite reaching the highest possible scores in a review with LIPA for his 2024 performance.

As Newsday reported last week, Quanta has since filed suit challenging LIPA’s process in failing to award the contract to the Houston-based company despite its stronger bid, then canceling the procurement altogether and moving forward with a contract extension for PSEG. A judge on Monday will hear arguments in the case to determine whether Quanta’s request for an injunction to block the contract extension is warranted.

Raley, who several months ago retained a lawyer to represent him in the LIPA ethics and state inspector general’s investigations, said he’s considering his legal options in the aftermath of his firing.

Raley said his testimony to the IG was "very pointed about the fact that we were asked to lower Quanta’s scores" during the procurement process. "And the answer to that is absolutely, we were asked on multiple occasions" to lower Quanta’s score, he said. He and at least one other member of the review committee resisted the pressure, he said.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

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