PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 2834 PRINTER'S NO. 3095
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,
YUDICHAK, J. WHITE, HORNAMAN, THOMAS AND JAMES,
NOVEMBER 14, 2007
AS AMENDED, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 16, 2008
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, ENERGY INDUSTRY <--
14 REPRESENTATIVES AND VARIOUS PUBLIC AGENCIES actively lobbied
15 members of the House of Representatives to vote for electricity
16 deregulation; and
17 WHEREAS, Desiring to foster competition among utility
18 providers and expand consumer choice, the Commonwealth
19 deregulated the electricity industry in December 1996; and
1 WHEREAS, To date, not only has commercial and residential <--
2 competition not taken place, it is highly unlikely that HAS YET <--
3 TO MEET SATISFACTORY LEVELS AND IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER market
4 forces will ever be such that competition manifests itself in
5 the near future; and
6 WHEREAS, According to the chairman of the commission's recent
7 testimony, the commission's preferred approach to handling
8 energy costs when rate caps expire is to allow the various
9 utilities to obtain energy at the "prevailing market rates"; and
10 WHEREAS, This profit-maximizing, free-market approach has <--
11 already resulted in up to 70% rate increases in some states and
12 even higher rate increases for smaller utilities in this
13 Commonwealth; and
14 WHEREAS, Commissioners have been quoted in the press stating,
15 ostensibly, that their hands are tied, and therefore, they will
16 be unable to exact much change in the commission's future
17 actions when rate caps lapse in 2009 and 2010 because they will
18 simply be carrying out the intent of the General Assembly
19 through the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and
20 Competition Act; and
21 WHEREAS, In her testimony on October 3, 2007, to the House
22 Committee on Environmental Resources and Energy, the Secretary
23 of Environmental Protection stated that in Pike County there was
24 a 130% increase in electricity costs overnight when their rate
25 caps expired; and
26 WHEREAS, Looking outside of this Commonwealth to the
27 neighboring states of Delaware and Maryland, the price of their
28 electricity increased 59% and 72%, respectively, when their rate
29 caps expired recently; and
30 WHEREAS, When electricity rate caps expire in 2009 and 2010, <--
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1 the citizens of this Commonwealth are sure to fall victim to the
2 crippling rate hikes that will inevitably result; and
3 WHEREAS, As the Secretary of Environmental Protection has
4 said, "The clock is now ticking very loudly"; and
5 WHEREAS, Other states have started to address this impending
6 crisis, and it is time that Pennsylvania take similar action;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, Much to the dismay of consumers in this
9 Commonwealth, the commission seems to be ignoring the current
10 national trend in state legislatures against deregulation; and
11 WHEREAS, The commissioners have failed to provide
12 constructive comments to the General Assembly on how to combat
13 impending rate hikes and the inevitable financial and economic
14 disruption that will result; therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge the
16 Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania
17 Public Utility Commission to exercise due diligence on behalf of
18 this Commonwealth's energy consumers by identifying and
19 evaluating measures taken in other states to manage the
20 transition from electricity rate caps to no rate caps and
21 minimize its impact upon the individual residential consumer, to
22 make written suggestions on how certain laws may be changed to
23 reduce the incidence of rate shock and the impact of rate shock
24 and to submit the suggestions to the Chief Clerk for
25 distribution among members of the House of Representatives.
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