Rockville Centre's Electric Discount Is Real. The Hydropower Contract Behind It Now Rises Every April.

When a Rockville Centre seller hands a buyer last year's electric bills, how much do those bills say about next year?

Less than they used to. Most homes inside the village get power from the Village of Rockville Centre Electric Department, not PSEG Long Island. The village utility's low rates are a real money difference between Rockville Centre and its PSEG-served neighbors. That advantage depends mostly on one wholesale contract, and in April 2026 that contract started stepping up on a fixed annual schedule. A bill from 2025 was priced under terms that are already gone.

Where the Discount Comes From

The Village Electric Department says about 75% of Rockville Centre's annual energy comes through a long-term agreement with the New York Power Authority for Niagara Falls hydropower. The Village's May 5, 2026 rate notice puts the share at about 80%. The rest is bought on the state's wholesale market and delivered over the state grid and LIPA's transmission system. When demand runs higher than that import capacity, the village's own plant runs six engine generators.

Rockville Centre is one of 51 municipal and rural cooperative systems in New York that buy this "preference" hydropower from NYPA. The Village says the price held steady from 2014 until this year.

That low price shows up on household bills. In a standardized residential comparison dated August 1, 2026, at 750 kWh of use, the Village listed these estimated bills:

On that one standardized bill, the gap between Rockville Centre and PSEG Long Island is $85.43. Freeport also runs its own municipal system and came in lower still. The full comparison sheet covers 13 utilities across New York and Connecticut. Con Edison was the highest at $287.58.

The Contract Changed in April

NYPA proposed raising preference power rates in December 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced on February 12, 2025 that she was demanding NYPA suspend the proposed increase. According to the Village, the governor directed NYPA to get customer agreement first. Rockville Centre and the other 50 systems then negotiated a slower schedule. The Village says the original proposal would have raised rates 2.6 times over four years. The final deal raises them 1.8 times over six years. The NYPA Board of Trustees approved it on December 9, 2025.

The Village published the schedule. The effective rate at a 70% load factor is the clearest single number to follow:

The first step was about a 13% increase. Each later step adds roughly $1.68 to $1.69 per megawatt-hour. By 2031 the rate is about 1.8 times the old one. The next step takes effect April 1, 2027, about five months from now.

Even at the 2031 rate, hydropower is still cheap power. $23.00 per megawatt-hour works out to 2.3¢ per kilowatt-hour at the wholesale level. PSEG Long Island's published Power Supply Charge for October 2026 is 13.92¢ per kWh. These two numbers are not the same kind of charge, so they don't measure the bill gap directly. They do show why the discount survives the schedule while it shrinks.

Why a Seller's Bills Lag Behind

The way the Village bills explains why past bills can mislead.

The Village's posted residential rates have not changed in years. They are a $6.50 customer charge and $0.1081 per kWh for the first 500 kWh in every season. Use above 500 kWh is $0.1081 in winter and $0.1144 in summer. The tariff lists the $6.50 charge per meter, bi-monthly, and its base-rate leaf is dated August 1, 2012.

Those base rates stay fixed. The cost of buying power moves through a separate line, the Fuel Adjustment Charge. The Village calculates the FAC every month and passes energy costs through at actual cost. It says it is a not-for-profit and makes no money on that charge, and that the calculation method is approved by the state Department of Public Service.

So a rate sheet that hasn't changed since 2012 tells a buyer very little. The hydropower increase, fuel prices and the LIPA transmission charge all reach the bill through the FAC. In its May notice, the Village named every one of these as a reason for higher bills. It also pointed to weather: temperatures above 100 degrees in June 2025 and below 5 degrees in February 2026. Hydropower in a summer 2025 bill was priced at the old $12.88 rate, and this past summer's bills carried the $14.57 step. By summer 2027 that rate will be $16.25.

Two Snapshots, Six Months Apart

The Village has published two comparisons this year, and they don't match. The May notice cited a February 2026 comparison that showed Rockville Centre's cost per kWh "more than 50% lower" than PSEG Long Island's. The August 1 comparison shows 40.52% lower.

The April hydropower step came between those two dates. Neither document breaks down how much of the change it caused. PSEG's side also moves. Its Power Supply Charge was 11.6387¢ per kWh in August 2026. It rose 20.14% to 13.9822¢ in September, then eased to 13.92¢ in October. PSEG's 2026 residential rate booklet lists that supply charge separately from delivery charges and a 56¢ daily service charge on Rate 194, its standard residential time-of-day rate. In its 2026 budget summary, LIPA projected the typical monthly residential bill at $192.30 for 2026, down from $198.83 projected for 2025. That is a budget assumption, not a promise.

Both utilities' costs move. One driver of Rockville Centre's costs is now scheduled to rise each spring through 2031. A buyer comparing a Rockville Centre colonial with a similar home in Oceanside or Lynbrook will still find a meaningful electric gap. They should expect that gap to be smaller in each of the next five rate years, and expect any single comparison to depend on its date.

The Discount Follows the Village Line

Where a home sits matters as much as the rates. The Village tariff defines its service territory as the entire incorporated village. It also names a few customers just outside: the Rockville Centre Country Club, South Nassau Hospital and eleven residential customers outside but adjacent to village limits. The territory is defined by the village limits and that short list of exceptions, and the mailing address is not part of it.

For a buyer, the practical step is simple. Ask the seller for a recent bill and check which utility issued it. Ask for bills from more than one season, and read the Fuel Adjustment Charge line separately from the base charges. A full year of statements shows how much the FAC swings between a hot month and a cold one. Questions about a specific account can go to the Electric Department, which the Village lists at 516-678-9294.

Quick Answers

Did Rockville Centre raise its electric rates? The base rates on the posted schedule have not increased, according to the Village. Higher energy costs, including the NYPA hydropower step on April 1, 2026, show up through the monthly Fuel Adjustment Charge.

Is the village plant only for emergencies? The Village says its six engine generators run when demand exceeds what can be brought in over LIPA's transmission system. They can also supply power during transmission emergencies and storms.

How long do the hydropower increases last? The approved schedule runs through April 1, 2031, when the effective rate reaches $23.00 per megawatt-hour.

These figures are general information and not financial advice. Utility costs depend on each household's usage and account, so confirm the details for any specific home with the utility that serves it.

Comparing carrying costs between Rockville Centre and a nearby PSEG-served town is part of how we help buyers judge what a home will really cost to own. If you'd like help asking for the right utility records during a purchase, or showing buyers what your Rockville Centre home costs to run, contact The Michael Karlen Team.