Health & Fitness
What You Need to Know About Spiking Electric Rates
As everyone knows, this past winter season has been particularly harsh, and during several periods the electric grid has been extremely pressed to meet the added demand for electricity and heating. Subsequently, many individuals across the region have recently received electric utility bills which have been significantly higher than average.
The Pennsylvania Legislature voted years ago (before I was in office) to deregulate electricity, which means that customers have the ability to choose an electricity supplier, as over 2.2 million residential households in Pennsylvania have already chosen to do. Consumers have the ability to select from a variety of electricity suppliers, many whom offer different rates, plans and incentives to customers. Each of these entities is licensed to offer their product to consumers by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). Several companies offer consumers variable rates, which can change depending on the current electricity market.
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Recently, due to the unusually high demand for electricity, many variable rates spiked in response to the market volatility of the wholesale electricity market, and several suppliers opted to pass all or a portion of that cost on to their customers. In some cases I have received word of variable rates increasing from 100 to 300% over the average rates during the month of January 2014.
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An issue of this magnitude has not occurred since deregulation, and it has brought a lot of attention to specific problems that require attention. Specifically, it shows that there is a lack of consumer protections available to consumers that purchase electricity from generation suppliers. There also appears to be situations in which customers that were on variable rate plans were unclear as to the extent of the terms of their contracts. Additionally, some customers were placed on variable plans automatically, and without any affirmative consent, after their fixed-term contracts expired.
In response to this problem, the PUC has announced an investigation to examine the rules and regulations regarding variable rate offers to consumers, and has continued to encourage any consumer that has had issues to contact them and to contact their electricity supplier. Also in response, the Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate and Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office are both monitoring the recent and current activities of electric generation suppliers, and Attorney General Kane is asking customers to submit complaints of abnormal and extreme increases in electricity rates to her office. I also recommend that you file a complaint with the PUC and the Consumer Advocate’s office if you feel that you have been a victim of these rate increases. My office can assist you with the printing and filing of these complaint forms.
I want my constituents to know I take this problem very seriously. I serve on the House Consumer Affairs Committee, and we have planned a public hearing in Harrisburg about this issue on March 20th. Please know that I plan to follow this situation closely, and will be reviewing any potential legislative actions that may be taken in order to prevent this from happening to Pennsylvanians in the future.
I highly suggest contacting the PUC, the Attorney General, and the Consumer Advocate if you feel that you may be victim to these increases. My office is ready to assist you in filing these complaints, so please do not hesitate to call me at 724-746-3677 or email me at repwhite@pahouse.net for more information.