HARRISBURG – Legislation has been introduced by Luzerne County Rep. Brenda Pugh which would give PA consumers a clearer picture of their utility bills. House Bill 2738 would expand the PA Public Utility Commission’s existing annual rate comparison report to include a five-year cumulative review of rate adjustments affecting residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The report would account for changes in base rates, distribution and transmission charges, fixed customer charges, universal service surcharges, and other PUC-approved charges that affect customer bills. The PUC would be required to translate those adjustments into an estimated average monthly bill impact for each customer class and identify whether adjustments resulted from federal or state law, utility filings approved by the PUC, or automatic adjustment mechanisms authorized by law or commission order. Pugh says people shouldn’t need to be utility experts to understand their bills. If a charge is increasing, consumers should be able to see where it came from, why it increased, and what it is costing them.
REP. BRENDA PUGH