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PennFuture: State Senate Committee Cripples Energy Savings Bill, Condemning Pennsylvania's Families and Businesses to Higher Electricity Bills

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 September 2008, 15:00 CDT

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) today called on the members of the Pennsylvania State Senate to remove crippling amendments placed on the Energy Savings Bill yesterday by the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee, which would gut the legislation and condemn Pennsylvania's families and businesses to higher electricity bills well into the next decade.

"The committee's amendments mean that the foxes will be guarding the henhouse," said Jan Jarrett, president and CEO of PennFuture. "If the amendments become law, the local electricity companies will be in charge of developing programs to cut customers' bills and, with it, the utilities' own bottom line. If programs created by the utilities fail after five years, the electricity company merely has to pay a $5 million fine. Faced with the prospect of cutting into their own bottom line or paying a fine, it would appear that even the most well-meaning company would opt for the fine. There is no provision for public hearings on the programs, and no opportunity for other, independent companies to manage the energy savings programs until the Public Utility Commission declares a program a failure, five years down the road.

"The committee's amendments also fail to give all customers smart meters, a vital tool for energy savings," continued Jarrett. "Without this guarantee, families and businesses will be unable to know and use energy when it is cheaper and thus lower their bills. Smart meters are absolutely essential to lowering our electricity bills, especially when electricity costs are the highest -- by cutting our use during peak times by 1 percent, we will achieve a 10 percent drop in the price of electricity for all.

"Pennsylvania's families and businesses have been waiting for almost two years for the relief that HB 2200 promises," continued Jarrett. "Meanwhile, the cost of electricity keeps climbing, and the removal of rate caps on electricity looms even closer. The House of Representatives passed this bill months ago, but now, with less than a handful of days left on the Senate calendar, the committee has gutted much of the bill and with it the energy savings we all could achieve. We urge all senators to remove the crippling amendments put on by the committee, and restore and pass HB 2200 without delay."

HB 2200 has widespread support, with organizations from around the state - large and small businesses, communities of faith, public health, environment and other public interest organizations - working to make sure it passes, giving families and businesses the tools and information they need to cut costs and their energy bills, fight global warming, and create Great Green Jobs in Pennsylvania. The bill must pass this session to have the conservation programs in force when electricity rate caps expire statewide.

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization, founded in 1998. Working from the premise that "Every environmental victory grows the economy," PennFuture has successfully advocated for landmark environmental legislation, including passage of the largest ever environmental funding bond, passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, adoption of the Clean Vehicles Program and adoption of a regulation that protects Pennsylvania's babies by restricting mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. PennFuture has staff throughout the state, in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, West Chester and Scranton. The Philadelphia Inquirer called PennFuture the "state's leading environmental advocacy organization."

Source: Business Wire

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