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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Greg Vitali D-Delaware |
  
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Legislators urge passage of conservation legislation in Senate
Vitali news conference addresses measure
HARRISBURG, July 1 – At a Capitol news conference today, state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, joined legislators and representatives from the environmental community to discuss the consequence of inaction on energy conservation legislation (H.B. 2200) in the state Senate, and to urge passage when the General Assembly reconvenes in the fall.
House Bill 2200 provides for energy conservation in two ways: it would help reduce the overall demand for electricity and would provide for the implementation of smart meters. Smart meters are used to help customers adjust their electricity usage by determining when is the cheapest, off-peak period to buy.
According to the bill's sponsor, Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chairman Camille "Bud" George, D-Clearfield, the lifting of rate caps at the end of 2009 and 2010 could devastate Pennsylvania, increasing electric costs by as much as 54 percent and probably more.
"We have the power to prevent this train wreck," George said. "It's a question of whether we have the backbone to confront it. As a PUC commissioner said this year, the competitive, wholesale energy market is broke and needs to be fixed. The time to fix it is now – with House Bill 2200 and other measures that keep electric service safe, reliable and affordable."
According to state Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-Delaware, this is the only bill that will have real impact on rates for the average consumer.
"This is the only bill among the energy bills that's going to have a real impact on those rate caps – the cost of energy to the average consumer," Lentz said. "If we don't do something, people are going to look to Harrisburg and they're going to wonder why we didn't do anything, why we didn't take action to help them use less energy to be able to save money. This bill provides the practical tools for the average consumer to conserve. It is not that we should pass this bill in September, we have to pass it in September."
The smart metering portion of the legislation was authored by state Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, who said the concept behind this legislation is already working in some parts of the state.
"This is the one technology that we have available to us today that can make such a tremendous positive impact in terms of the kind of rates that utility customers pay across the states," Freeman said. "It empowers customers to pick and choose the times that they wish to purchase electricity so they could purchase at a lower cost time and save money for their households but also put less strain on the whole electric grid system. House Bill 2200 is good policy and good common sense."
Vitali said while energy funding legislation that provides incentives for the development of renewable energy has been approved, the conservation piece of the energy puzzle is still missing.
"Failure to address the conservation side of the energy independence issue will have serious consequences for Pennsylvania down the road," Vitali said. "I think this is the most important environmental issue that was in the governor's Energy Independence Strategy proposal, and we need to push to make sure this gets done in September."
Others speaking or attending the news conference in support of H.B. 2200: House State Government Committee Chairwoman Babette Josephs, D-Phila.; Rep. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery; Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre; Rep. Barbara McIlvaine Smith, D-Chester; John Hangar, president and CEO, PennFuture; and Jeff Schmidt, chapter director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.
The measure was approved in the House 152-45 in February. It is in the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee awaiting action.
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