Electric Deregulation: Broken Promises, Higher Bills
Ten years ago the Republican-led House and Senate deregulated the electric industry in Pennsylvania. They promised us lower rates—up to 50% lower—as dozens of electricity providers would compete for our business.
Instead, Harrisburg gave the electric companies $11 billion dollars of our money and a promise to allow them to raise their rates without regulation in ten years.
Our Rates Could Double by 2010
That promise will be fulfilled in 2010 when the cap on electric rates comes off. By the electric companies’ own projections, your rates will rise from 20% to at 63%. However, consumer advocates think the reality will be closer to a 100% increase in our electric bills—and possibly more as fuel costs continue to soar.
Senate Democrats Propose a Fix
State Senator Lisa Boscola and other Senate Democrats are introducing legislation that would hold off the rate increases by phasing out the cap over a period of five years. It would also require that electric generators seek practical ways to lower their costs.
Pennsylvania already has some of the highest electricity costs in the nation. Raising the rates even higher will break the backs of working families already struggling to make ends meet. It will also force small businesses to close and cause other businesses to locate in states with lower utility costs.
According to figures provided by the state, utility shutoffs have already risen by 37% over 2007. If rates continue to go up, the number of low and middle income families unable to pay their bills will rise.
Just like the gas giants, PA’s electric companies are predicting record profits. The profits are based on charging rate payers up to five times more than what it costs them to generate the power, according to Senator Boscola.
Boscola said that one electric company “is brashly predicting a corporate earnings margin jump from $1.8 billion this year to an obscene $3.3 billion in 2010.”
Unbelievably, most senators have not signed on to this family-friendly legislation. We need to stand together to fight the corporate special interests in Harrisburg if we are going to keep our electric bills from doubling in the next few years.
Join us by signing this petition to our state senators. Tell them to stand up for working families and not the big electric companies.
Act Now!
Pennsylvania’s electric rates are already among the highest in the nation. We can’t afford to see our electric bills rise another 20-100%. We call on the Pennsylvania senate to act immediately and pass common-sense legislation to extend the rate caps and phase them in over a period of five years.
