PUC ruling disappoints Pike commissioners

Fixed prices versus spot market is the issue

By TOM KANE

MILFORD, PA - Harry Forbes is not happy with the Pennsylvania utility commission.

Forbes, chairman of the Pike County Commissioners, expressed his opinion of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission’s (PUC) ruling which provides few options to Pike residents to the up-to-73 percent electricity rate hike by saying, “I disagree strongly with this decision.”

After almost a year of on-and-off hearings on the extreme electricity rate increases put forth by the Pike County Light and Power Company (PCLP) for its 4,200 county customers, the PUC ruled that the company should procure its power supply from the more volatile spot market for its generation supply needs for the years 2008 through the middle of 2010.

A spot market is a flexible market with rates that change with the ups and downs of the stock market. The county had asked that the auction process for securing electricity for the area around Milford should have a fixed price per customer for the entire period.

“We believe that a fixed rate will be a more stable price rate over the three year period,” Forbes said. “Instead, the commission opted for a proposal that will allow prices to change on a monthly basis, depending upon the market.”

“The [energy] system has failed the people of this county and failed consumers of electricity,” said commissioner Rich Caridi. “Ideally, it’s supposed to work for the advantage in a free market, but in this case it is disadvantageous to such a small community electric marketing segment.”

It was the commissioners’ hope that the PUC would allow electricity to be supplied by other companies, like Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative, a non-profit electricity broker, and by suppliers like the Delaware-Maryland-New Jersey (DMJ) interconnect. The ruling of the PUC would not allow that.

“There’s no peace of mind on a volatile market,” said commissioner Karl Wagner. “It’s a real gamble.”

“This isn’t over yet,” Forbes said. “We are still working for a good solution. We’ll be making some new recommendations to the PUC in the coming weeks.”

Pike County Light and Power is owned by the Orange and Rockland Company, which in turn is owned by Con Edison.