Doug Biden, President of the Electric Power Generation Association, this week reiterated his organization's plan to help Pennsylvania customers deal with anticipated higher electricity prices being driven by higher fuel and commodity costs.

Biden made his comments on a day when the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a hearing on the issue in Allentown, Pa. The hearing is part of a larger effort by Pennsylvania lawmakers to deal with the expiration of electricity rate caps over the next several years.

Biden said, "Pennsylvania lawmakers are rightfully asking questions about what can be done to help residents adjust to paying market prices for electricity. The key is to develop constructive policies that align solutions with the real causes of the problem."

Biden argued that Pennsylvania legislators can best respond to this challenge by:

educating customers on how they can conserve and save, giving customers options to phase-in higher prices, encouraging conservation and reductions in peak demand for electricity, and reviewing the adequacy of low income assistance programs.

Biden said electricity prices are rising across the country, both in states that restructured markets to allow competition and those that retained traditional regulation. Biden said, "It's a well established fact that we're competing with countries such as China and India for fuel and commodities used to generate electricity. Those realities are driving up the underlying costs of producing electricity."

Biden said it is both wrong and counterproductive to blame competition for rising electricity prices. "Competition promotes efficiencies that provide the best means to counter underlying cost pressures. Competition is the solution to rather than the cause of higher electricity prices."

Biden said EPGA is committed to working with House and Senate leaders as well as the Administration to develop comprehensive legislation that helps Pennsylvania consumers make the transition to paying market prices for electricity.

For more information, visit PA Energy News.

NewsClip: Sen. Boscola Fires Off Charges in Utility Rate Battle

8/8/2008