With the New York City-area facing what may be a long summer of both high energy demands and costs, one that even may cause some blackouts, the Village of Roslyn board of trustees has elected to join a cooperative dubbed "The Village Energy Group of Nassau County" in order to gain savings on gas and electric bills for local businesses and residents.

The BOT made their decision at the March 20 meeting. It was necessary to do so then because there is a March 30 deadline for villages to join the cooperative. The village will be part of the group for one year. At the end of that year, it is free to decide whether to renew its membership. The contract the village intends to sign takes effect on June 1.

At the meeting, BOT members noted that it cost the village nothing to join the group. Although the savings in gas and electric bills initially may be small, the purpose of the program is to foster competition among electric companies, the result of which would be even more savings.

As part of the program, the village will work with KeySpan Home Energy Services. KeySpan provides not just gas and electric savings, but also Heating & Air Conditioning service and installation.

At the beginning of the month, Floral Park Mayor Steve Corbett and Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato, respectively, president and vice president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, mailed a letter to county villages, explaining the benefits of joining the cooperative. They noted that the New York State Public Service Commission has mandated competition in the energy field "with the belief that customers would save money" through such competition. "Through deregulation," they wrote, "consumers have the ability to choose an energy supplier other than the utility."

According to the two mayors, the cooperative will allow residential customers to receive a 12.5 percent discount on natural gas and a 3.5 percent discount on electricity. Commercial and government customers will receive a 15 percent discount on natural gas and the same 3.5 percent discount on electricity.

"By bringing in a large group of customers together, we have been guaranteed the lowest price on Long Island," the mayors continued. "Our goal is to combine the purchasing power of all the villages with each village serving as an aggregator to attract a good number of their residents and businesses signed on in the first two years. This two-year plan will create the largest customer base for KeySpan and thus give us significant leverage for better discounts in the future through the power of competition." The NCVOA, the mayors added, would do all the legwork on the particulars of the plan, relieving, they claim, each village of having to review it annually.

The villages, for their part, are responsible for educating residents and businesses about the energy savings available from the program. Toward this end, BOT members debated the possibility of starting their own mailing to village residents explaining how the program works and what savings can be achieved. A village's facilitating fee, the mayors wrote, will be lower if villages make a "significant effort" to get residents and businesses signed up.

In all, the mayors called the program a "terrific win-win for everyone." The villages, they claimed, will save a net of 9 percent off their total natural gas bills and additional dollars on electric bills. BOT members shared those sentiments. At the meeting, BOT member Marshall Bernstein asked Mayor-elect John Durkin if there were any "curveballs" to the program. Mr. Durkin answered that he saw no downsides to the village joining up. The situation in New York is not as severe as what California has experienced. Plus, the village's membership is only for one year, a situation that prevents any possible long-term damage to the taxpayer.