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January 19, 2012, 12:28 pm
The House Democratic Policy Committee this morning held a hearing to ascertain why power outages following the tropical and snow storms of September and October 2011 were so lengthy. Members heard from the five commissioners of the PUC, who explained a review to identify the reasons for the outages is underway; consumers affected by lengthy outages; PPL and Met Ed, who addressed the lessons learned from the outages, particularly the need for better, more accurate communication with customers; and the consumer advocate, who praised the response of the PUC and offered recommendations for consumers to be better prepared for future outages.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox later today.
November 1, 2011, 11:42 am
The House Consumer Affairs Committee held an informational hearing this morning on Chapter 14 of the Public Utility Code which is also Act 201 of 2004, the “Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act.” The provisions of Chapter 14 expire at the end of 2014 if it is not reauthorized by the General Assembly. Representatives from the utilities testified to the positive impact of the Act while consumer representatives called for significant changes in the Act if it is reauthorized. The PUC offered recommendations on changes in the Act. Check the Capitol Toolbox later today for the full story.
November 1, 2011, 10:11 am
The House Local Government Committee this morning discussed nearly two dozen amendments to HB 1702, which extensively revises the Borough Code. The amendments under discussion were largely the result of past hearings and meetings on the bill and garnered little debate. The bill and amendments are expected to be voted form committee in two weeks.
Look for the full details in the Capitol Toolbox later today.
August 3, 2011, 12:08 pm
The House Consumer Affairs Committee today held an informational meeting on the natural gas industry, specifically relating to the eight-percent rate of retail shopping for natural gas suppliers. The committee heard from representatives of the industry, the PUC and the Consumer Advocate, many of whom cited the need for a mechanism to promote the replacement of aging infrastructure and to encourage the development of new infrastructure. Several members particularly discussed the need to expand access to natural gas service to more areas of Pennsylvania.
Check the Capitol Toolbox later for the full story.
June 8, 2011, 12:52 pm
The House Consumer Affairs Committee this morning approved legislation, with amendments, that would authorize utilities to implement ratemaking procedures to accelerate the recovery of capital investments related to infrastructure repair/replacement. Proponents of the legislation indicated it will accelerate collection of capital costs and thus accelerate infrastructure improvements. Several members questioned the amount of costs that would be recovered, but ultimately an amendment to limit collections to net costs was not approved. Three members voted against reporting the amended bill from committee.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox this afternoon.
April 28, 2011, 1:19 pm
The House Consumer Affairs Committee held a public hearing this morning on HB 1294, with discussion focusing primarily on the pros and cons of authorizing utilities to charge a fee, much like the DSIC of the water industry, in order to accelerate infrastructure improvements. The bulk of the testimony was in support of the idea, while Consumer Advocate Popowsky raised several concerns about the language of the bill.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox this evening.
March 10, 2011, 12:25 pm
The House Consumer Affairs Committee met with representatives from the natural gas industry to learn more about the industry and discuss possible legislative action. The discussion ranged across all aspects of the industry, but paid particular attention to the potential of using natural gas-powered vehicles.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox later this afternoon.
March 8, 2011, 10:55 am
The House Consumer Affairs Committee met with the chairman of the Public Utility Commission this morning to learn more about the role of the PUC and discuss possible legislative action. The members learned about the five areas of PUC oversight – electricity, natural gas, telephone, water and wastewater, and transportation – and discussed possible legislative remedies for improvement in each area.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox later today.
March 2, 2011, 11:26 am
The House Consumer Affairs Committee held an informational meeting this morning to learn about the water and wastewater industries. Testifiers provided an overview of the industry and offered recommendations for legislative improvements.
Look for the complete story in the Capitol Toolbox later today.
March 1, 2011, 11:07 am
The House Consumer Affairs Committee met this morning to discuss HB 344 (amends title 66 with regards to gas pipelines). After comments from the chairman of the committee, the bill was reported as amended. Check the Capitol Toolbox later today for the full story.
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