Utility Shutoffs Soar in Pennsylvania

A report released by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) says utility shutoffs in Pennsylvania have soared since a 2004 law was passed, giving utility companies more authority to stop service to nonpaying customers. The law was passed in order to increase bill collections. However, PUC spokesperson Jennifer Kocher said the gas industry has seen improved bill collections, but the electric industry has not. Also, while there are record numbers in utility shutoffs in Pennsylvania, Kocher said there are also record numbers in utility re-connections.

Kocher said the passed law is partially to blame for the rise in shutoffs, but the United States financial crisis has also been involved in customers not being able to pay their bills. She said utility companies are required to tell their customers about community-based and utility-based programs to assist in paying bills and maintaining service, if a customer is facing a termination notice.

To see a full report, go to http://www.puc.state.pa.us/General/publications_reports/pdf/06-07_PUC_Ann_Rpt.pdf.

Thousands In Pittsburgh Area Still Without Power

Four days after winds gusting up to 79 miles per hour tore down power lines throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, about 25 thousand homes and businesses are still without electricity. Duquesne Light says about 11,000 customers are still without service. Those in the Point Breeze, East Liberty, Oakland and Squirrel Hill sections of Pittsburgh plus Wilkinsburg and West Homestead should be restored by 11 o'clock tonight. A Duquesne Light spokesman says northern and western Allegheny County and Beaver County continue to have the largest numbers of customers still experiencing outages. The utility projects power will be restored to them by late Friday.
Penn Power reports about 11,500 customers in the Pittsburgh region still without service. The company is bringing in supplemental line crews and hopes to have everyone restored by Sunday morning.

Power Line Project Reaches Deal in West Virginia

Allegheny Energy has agreed to give some West Virginia residents free electricity in exchange for permission to build large power lines across their land. West Virginia’s Consumer Advocate has agreed not to contest the project as part of the settlement.

Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky says he has not discussed a similar settlement with Allegheny Energy, and that the utility still faces several hurdles to getting the project approved.

Attorney Will Burns, who represents several power line opponents in southwestern Pennsylvania, says the project may face stronger opposition here than it has in West Virginia. Several residents in Greene and Washington counties have sued to stop it. Opponents say the project is unnecessary and that Allegheny Energy wants to use rural southwestern Pennsylvania to support more energy-hungry areas like northern Virginia.

Still, Burns says there is one aspect of the West Virginia agreement that Pennsylvania residents might find encouraging: a pledge by Allegheny Energy not to use aerial herbicide spraying. That’s been a big concern for farmers.

Hearings on the power line project in West Virginia are scheduled to begin Wednesday. In Pennsylvania, hearings will take place in March. But the state might not have the final say. If the state Public Utility Commission rejects the project, the federal government could overrule it.