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, <-- 20070H0506R3095 - 2 -
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. K2L82DMS/20070H0506R3095 - 3 -