BETHLEHEM – Rather than wait for Pennsylvania’s families and businesses to suffer the shock of double- and triple-digit electricity rate increases, Gov. Edward G. Rendell wants to act now to make it easier for consumers to conserve power and make more informed choices about their electricity use.
Speaking at Lehigh University’s “Balancing Energy and the Environment” workshop, Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said the governor’s Energy Independence Strategy is designed to help Pennsylvania consumers avoid the financial burdens electricity rate spikes have caused elsewhere.
“An economic train wreck is less than two-and-a-half years away,” said McGinty. “That’s when electricity rate caps are removed statewide. If we want to know what to expect when that happens, all we need to do is look at northeastern Pennsylvania, and across the border to our south and east.
“In Pike County, a school district’s electricity bill jumped 130 percent in one year — draining another $220,000 in annual energy costs from taxpayers. In Maryland and Delaware, prices have jumped 70 percent and 50 percent, respectively. We cannot allow soaring and volatile electricity rates to empty the wallets of our working families and cripple our economy.
“The governor’s Energy Independence Strategy will help our families and businesses cut their electricity bills. The plan will make it easier for everyone to conserve electricity and increase efficiency—to the tune of $1 billion per year over the next decade. It also paves the way for making the critical investments we need to attract new economic development opportunities in the rapidly growing alternative and renewable energy industries.”
Under the Energy Independence Strategy, utilities would be required to provide customers with service at the lowest possible cost and invest in cost-effective conservation measures before building more expensive generation plants or high-voltage transmission lines.
The plan would also provide consumers with new tools and information to reduce energy spending. For example, the strategy would require utilities to provide “smart” electric meters to consumers that display exactly how much energy is being used at any particular time, and how much that energy costs. Using that information, customers can make more informed decisions that will help them consume less electricity during peak times when it is most expensive—a practice that can save up to 15 percent on annual electricity costs.
A portion of the $850 million Energy Independence Fund will be used to provide consumers and small businesses with $244 million in new funding to help purchase and install state-of-the-art energy technology, such as solar power systems and high-efficiency refrigerators and room air conditioners. These newer, more efficient models can cut electric bills by another $110 per year. Today’s refrigerators use 30 percent less energy than a unit manufactured in 2001 and 60 percent less energy than a 1990 model.
The Energy Independence Fund also invests in Pennsylvania’s economic future by encouraging more alternative and renewable energy technologies to be developed and deployed in the state. According to McGinty, these projects will generate new jobs and new community investments, as well as a cleaner, more diverse energy supply.
“Right now, Pennsylvania is a leading destination for alternative and renewable energy companies, but other states and nations are actively competing for these same projects,” McGinty said. “If we act now on the Governor’s plan, we can bring $3.5 billion in new economic activity to our state, including 13,000 new jobs for Pennsylvanians.
“As Governor Rendell recently told the General Assembly, ‘the new energy economy is coming whether we like it or not. The question now is whether it is coming to Pennsylvania.’”