Pennsylvania PUC holds hearings on proposed $503M hike

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has held various public hearings regarding a $503 million electric rate increase by FirstEnergy.

The utility is seeking an annual increase in revenues of $503,848,000 (34%) for electric distribution services provided to customers in the Med-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power Rate Districts. Those serve about 2.1 million customers in 56 counties across the Commonwealth.

The proposed rate adjustment builds on service reliability enhancements made in recent years by upgrading additional distribution grid equipment, providing ongoing tree trimming and creating a team to help low-income residential customers participate in bill assistance programs.

“We understand that it’s very important to keep things as affordable as possible for our customers. Everything from inflation to everything else is difficult. We don’t want to put too much of a burden on customers, but we also need to have the money to invest in our system to provide reliable electricity for our customers,” FirstEnergy Spokesperson Todd Meyers said.

The services that will be updated and added include:

• Modernizing the grid with automated technologies that prevent or reduce the scope and duration of power outages.
• Increasing the frequency of inspections of overhead circuits and transformers to identify and replace aging equipment.
• Converting about 85,000 company-owned streetlights to energy-efficient LED streetlights that save electricity and money.
• Removing more than 2.4 million trees and overhanging limbs that pose a threat to damaged poles and wires along 14,000 miles of line.
• Creating an Energy Assistance Outreach Team to increase awareness and participation in energy assistance programs available to low-income customers.
• Eliminating service fees for customers to pay their electric bills by credit card; benchmarking and customer surveys found that 45% of customers would pay by credit card if there were no fees.
• Creating an electric vehicle (EV) pilot program to encourage customers to purchase EVs by providing rebates for licensed electricians to install home chargers and other incentives.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has been holding public hearings throughout the commonwealth to get insight from customers

“They are the ones that are affected the most by this proposed rate increase,” Denise McCracken, a PUC Spokesperson said.

One community member who testified says the rate increase would impact more than just their electric bill.

“Lots of families who are struggling to provide winter clothing, for example. So you know that they are making decisions in terms of buying a winter jacket, being able to pay their utilities, being able to pay rent, and putting food on the table,” Shirley Gorski, a State College resident, said.

FirstEnergy (FE) rate request totals $502 million across its four Pennsylvania rate districts. If approved, monthly bills would increase on average in the range of $16.61 to $21.30 or about 9.2% to 11.8% for a typical FE PA residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month.

• Penelec has requested an increase of $132 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase by 9.8% or $19.79 for a new monthly bill of $220.75.
• Penn Power has requested an increase of $55 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase by 11.8% or $21.30 for a new monthly total bill of $201.88.
• West Penn has requested an increase of $169 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase by 10.6% or $16.61 for a new monthly total bill of $172.98.
• Met-Ed has requested an increase of $146 million. If approved, the total bill for the typical residential customer using 1,000 kWh per month would increase by 9.2% or $17.31 for a new monthly total bill of $205.

More information about the increases for Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn and Met-Ed can be found here .

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If you want to testify during one of the public hearings you can do so as several hearings and telephone hearings are coming up soon. For more on times and locations you can visit the PUC website at puc.pa.gov

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