PRINTER'S NO. 2834
No. 506 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY GEORGE, ARGALL, BELFANTI, BENNINGTON, BRENNAN,
CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARHAI,
HARKINS, HERSHEY, JOSEPHS, W. KELLER, MAHONEY, MANDERINO,
MELIO, MUNDY, MYERS, M. O'BRIEN, PARKER, PETRARCA, PETRONE,
RUBLEY, SCHRODER, SHIMKUS, K. SMITH, SOLOBAY, SURRA,
TANGRETTI, J. TAYLOR, WALKO, WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD AND
YUDICHAK, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
NOVEMBER 14, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the Department of Environmental Protection and the
2 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to exercise due
3 diligence on behalf of the Commonwealth's energy consumers by
4 identifying and evaluating measures taken in other states to
5 manage the transition from electricity rate caps to no rate
6 caps and minimize its impact upon the individual residential
7 consumer, to make written suggestions on how certain laws may
8 be changed to reduce the incidence of rate shock and the
9 impact of rate shock and to submit the suggestions to the
10 Chief Clerk for distribution among members of the House of
11 Representatives.
12 WHEREAS, More than ten years ago, several commissioners of
13 the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission actively lobbied
14 members of the House of Representatives to vote for electricity
15 deregulation; and
16 WHEREAS, Desiring to foster competition among utility
17 providers and expand consumer choice, the Commonwealth
18 deregulated the electricity industry in December 1996; and
19 WHEREAS, To date, not only has commercial and residential
1 competition not taken place, it is highly unlikely that market
2 forces will ever be such that competition manifests itself in
3 the near future; and
4 WHEREAS, According to the chairman of the commission's recent
5 testimony, the commission's preferred approach to handling
6 energy costs when rate caps expire is to allow the various
7 utilities to obtain energy at the "prevailing market rates"; and
8 WHEREAS, This profit-maximizing, free-market approach has
9 already resulted in up to 70% rate increases in some states and
10 even higher rate increases for smaller utilities in this
11 Commonwealth; and
12 WHEREAS, Commissioners have been quoted in the press stating,
13 ostensibly, that their hands are tied, and therefore, they will
14 be unable to exact much change in the commission's future
15 actions when rate caps lapse in 2009 and 2010 because they will
16 simply be carrying out the intent of the General Assembly
17 through the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and
18 Competition Act; and
19 WHEREAS, In her testimony on October 3, 2007, to the House
20 Committee on Environmental Resources and Energy, the Secretary
21 of Environmental Protection stated that in Pike County there was
22 a 130% increase in electricity costs overnight when their rate
23 caps expired; and
24 WHEREAS, Looking outside of this Commonwealth to the
25 neighboring states of Delaware and Maryland, the price of their
26 electricity increased 59% and 72%, respectively, when their rate
27 caps expired recently; and
28 WHEREAS, When electricity rate caps expire in 2009 and 2010,
29 the citizens of this Commonwealth are sure to fall victim to the
30 crippling rate hikes that will inevitably result; and
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1 WHEREAS, As the Secretary of Environmental Protection has
2 said, "The clock is now ticking very loudly"; and
3 WHEREAS, Other states have started to address this impending
4 crisis, and it is time that Pennsylvania take similar action;
5 and
6 WHEREAS, Much to the dismay of consumers in this
7 Commonwealth, the commission seems to be ignoring the current
8 national trend in state legislatures against deregulation; and
9 WHEREAS, The commissioners have failed to provide
10 constructive comments to the General Assembly on how to combat
11 impending rate hikes and the inevitable financial and economic
12 disruption that will result; therefore be it
13 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
14 Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania
15 Public Utility Commission to exercise due diligence on behalf of
16 this Commonwealth's energy consumers by identifying and
17 evaluating measures taken in other states to manage the
18 transition from electricity rate caps to no rate caps and
19 minimize its impact upon the individual residential consumer, to
20 make written suggestions on how certain laws may be changed to
21 reduce the incidence of rate shock and the impact of rate shock
22 and to submit the suggestions to the Chief Clerk for
23 distribution among members of the House of Representatives.
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