Public hearings on electric rates are scheduled

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA - Pike County electricity consumers will get a chance to register their complaints about their increased Pike County Light & Power Company (PCL&P) electricity rates.

The hearings are scheduled Wednesday, October 4, at 10:00 a.m. and at 6:00 p.m. at the Best Western Inn at Hunts Landing Ballroom in Matamoras.

“The county is joining forces with the Delaware Valley School District and several county residents and businesses to bring our case forward,” said Harry Forbes, Pike County Commissioners chair.

The county and its partners are hoping to get another electric company to serve the PCL&P customers, who last year received rate increases as high as 73 percent.

“Our group hired a lawyer [Jim Melia], who specializes in utility company disputes and will share his fee among us,” Forbes said.

“I will be meeting with Jim Melia this week to discuss the strategy for the upcoming hearings,” said Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Irwin Popowsky, who has been working with the commissioners since last year.

“It is our hope that we can get the Sussex Coop, a non-profit electricity broker and a member of the Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey (DMJ) Interconnect, to come into the market and give our residents a much lower rate,” Forbes said. “This is not going to be an easy battle or an over-night fix, but a long-haul fight that we hope will pay off in the end.”

Two more evidentiary hearings will be held for those who have applied to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission on their own. These hearing will be held on Thursday, October 5 and Friday, October 6 at 10:00 a.m.

Later in January 2007, four technical evidentiary hearings for expert witnesses will be held on Tuesday, January 16, Wednesday, January 17, Thursday, January 18 and Friday, January 19.

The hearings will also be held at the Scranton State Office Building, Room 318, 100 Lackawanna Ave in Scranton. The presiding judge is Administrative Law Judge Ember S. Jandebeur.