As Quanta Services' legal challenge to PSEG’s recent contract award to manage the electric grid was dealt a setback in court Monday, a recently fired senior LIPA official said he told state investigators he was asked on five occasions to lower Quanta’s score in the bidding and was warned he was "in the crosshairs" of losing his job for refusing to do so.

Quanta, the Houston-based energy infrastructure company that was favored by an internal LIPA committee to win the contract, had filed papers in state Supreme Court last week requesting a hearing Monday to make its case for a temporary restraining order to delay a scheduled awarding of the contract to PSEG. Despite that request, LIPA’s board voted 7-0 Thursday to award the $493 million pact to PSEG.

In Mineola on Monday, acting Supreme Co

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