KITCHEN CALLS FOR NEW CAPS ON ELECTRIC RATES


Kitchen

            HARRISBURG, July 3 - State Sen. Shirley Kitchen today said she and her fellow Democratic senators will soon be introducing bills aimed at preventing the spike in electric bills, mandating new electricity procurement rules and helping consumers reduce demand.

 “Working families cannot afford to pay massive rate hikes for electricity. Utility shut-offs are already up 37 percent. This will hurt families and potentially devastate our economy.”

Kitchen said she will back a Democratic proposal that would limit electric rate increases to 5 percent a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.

The Philadelphia lawmaker said she was disappointed that electric companies have refused to help lawmakers find a means to stabilize electric rates and help consumers reduce demand and lower their bills.

“Instead of working with us on solutions, electric generating companies are too busy exploiting deregulation to charge people and businesses well above the costs of producing electricity,” Kitchen said.

Kitchen voted against former Gov. Tom Ridge’s 1996 deregulation law.

            In addition to new rate caps, Kitchen and Senate Democrats favor: requiring utility companies to purchase electricity at lower rates, making sure the PUC doesn’t allow utility companies to manipulate the market to charge consumers higher rates, requiring utility companies to help consumers cut consumption and use energy more wisely; making it more difficult for companies to cut off someone’s power, and potentially creating a “state power purchase agency” to buy energy generation at lower costs.