Asphalt Bill Held for Five Months

Pittsburgh Council voted to hold a bill that would require public utilities to “carefully plan” with Pittsburgh’s Public Works Department before excavating roads.

Some Council Members have expressed concerns that utility companies wait until fresh asphalt has been paved to excavate roads when laying pipes or wires. The bill would have utilities excavate just before roads have been repaved.

The 20-week hold will delay the measure until November. Council President Darlene Harris asked for the unusually long hold because she says local utilities are beginning to work more cooperatively with the city.

Councilman Bruce Kraus called the five-month hold a way to “threaten or intimidate” utilities into complying with what the city wants.

Duquesne Light Offers Storm Update Texts

Duquesne Light Company has introduced a new alert system that sends text messages to customers when a storm knocks out electricity to their homes and businesses.

Duquesne Light spokesman Joseph Vallarian says the texts will provide the same information the company gives news media in cases of power outages. He says the difference is while televisions and computers may not work at that time of the power outage, mobile phones are usually still on.

Vallarian says it's a free service ..."text messaging is one of the most commonly used communication vehicles today, so this is the next logical step in communicating with our customers."

Vallarian says the alert system will also send texts telling customers of energy-saving tips, notices of free appliance recycling and free online energy audits. Customers can receive the information by texting DUQLIGHT to 94253.

PUC Puts Hold on 814 Split

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) cast a 5-0 vote today to put on indefinite hold its December decision to split the 814 area code geographically after the agency received more than 40 petitions for reconsideration.

PUC spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher says the commission decided to gather additional public input following complaints about the decision to split the 814 area geographically....
"Despite having public input hearings throughout the 814 area and having a public comment period, we really didn't hear from a lot of the area that would be seeing the new (area code) number and so, it was a lot of of those people upset by the PUC's decision."

The 814 area comprises all or parts of 27 Pennsylvania counties.
Kocher says no dates have been set for the additional hearings and information sessions...
"Possibly even explaining ourselves further, looking at the options that were available whether it was the geographic split or the all systems overlay. We know that no matter what decision we make people are not going to be happy."

Kocher says the PUC has 3 main options: reaffirming the original plan to split the area geographically, redrawing the lines of the split, and the overlay under which the new 582 area code would begin, no matter the geographic location in that area, once the 814 numbers run out. With the overlay, call callers would have to dial 10 digits whether or not that number has the same area code.

There is no statutory timeline for completing the new review. However the Commission could face a practical deadline. The 814 area code was originally projected to run out of telephone numbers in the first quarter of 2013. The Commissioners also will receive monthly updates concerning the projected exhaust date for the 814 area code.

Harris Holds Paving Bill

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris says she is willing to pull back a bit on pressuring utilities that work in the city to better coordinate with the public works department. Last summer, Harris was upset at what she says was becoming a regular occurrence of utilities digging up streets shortly after they were paved. Harris hinted that the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority was doing it on purpose because it is easier to cut into fresh asphalt than it is to cut into asphalt that was laid years ago. The PWSA and other utilities denied the practice. Harris then introduced legislation forcing the utilities to work with the Public Works Department to make sure it does not happen in the future. Today, Harris held the legislation for six months. “ The administration has assured me that communications between them (sic) and the utilities, in particular PWSA, have been improving,” says Harris.

The Council President says she has been talking directly to the utilities as well. “At this point I’m convinced the utilities and public works can work something out here.”

Harris and Public Works officials say the life of a paving job is shortened when utilities cut into the new surface. Water seeps in and leads to the surface crumbling before its time, says Harris. In recent years the city has substantially curtailed the number of miles paved and every year the exact location of the paving jobs becomes a fight in City Council chambers.

Harris says she is holing the bill rather than pulling it because it may be need again in the future.

814 Area Code Split Map Approved

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has decided to go forward with a geographic split of the 814 area code. The area code covers a huge swatch of Pennsylvania stretching from Erie in the north to Bedford in the south. PUC Spokesperson Jennifer Kocher says the increased demand for phone numbers has stressed the 814 area code. The 814 area code is projected to run out of telephone numbers in the first quarter of 2013.

The PUC took public input over the last year on how to best divide the area code including the possibility of an overlay plan. Kocher says the commission felt the geographic split was the best. The area code boundary will roughly run along Jefferson, Elk and McKean counties with the new area code being applied in those counties and to the west. (See map above.) (A more detailed map can be found here.) With the geographic split, consumers may continue to dial seven digits for local calling.

The PUC plans to split the area code starting in February of 2012. “There will be plenty of time for people to get used to the new area code,” says Kocher. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator will choose a new number soon. Kocher says there will be a great deal of public outreach to let people know if they will switch or not. She says cell phone customers will have to talk to their provider. A permissive dialing period of about six months is allowed while customers adjust to the change. Once the permissive dialing period has ended, customers will receive a recorded message telling them to hang up and redial the numbers using the new area code. The split will give the 814 area code another 18 years of life and the new area code is expected to be able to keep up with demand for the next 22 years.

Columbia Gas Checks Defective Pipes

Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania is checking plastic pipes in thousands of buildings after it was discovered that the walls of the pipes are too thin. The gasline pipes were installed in about 28-thousand buildings before a worker noticed the problem in June. Columbia Gas spokesman Mike Marcus says the pipes in question were used at buildings in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky and Virginia. Marcus says they don't believe there is a threat of immediate failure but rather a shorter lifespan for the pipe......."We don't believe there's a safety issue with those pipes but because safety is our top priority, we're taking the extra precaution of inspection all those locations. Marcus says Jana Laboratories of Ontario, Canada has been hired to test the pipers made by Texas-based Polypipe..........
"We're inspecting at the 5,600 locations where the pipe was used and we've stopped using the brand of plastic pipe in question, and we're now installing a plastic pipe produced by another manufacturer."
He says should it be determined that there is any form of hazard, the pipe will be replaced. Polypipe officials blamed malfunctioning cooling equipment for the thin walls.

Wagner: Educate Public on Electric Deregulation

Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner says the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) and electric utility companies should step up efforts to educate the public on the effects of deregulation.

Since 1997, rate caps have prevented electricity suppliers from raising their prices beyond certain levels. Rate caps have since been lifted gradually to ease the state into the competitive electricity market.

Wagner says while 40% of Pennsylvanians have already seen their providers’ rate caps expire, the remaining 60% won’t have their rates uncapped until January 1. Wagner says in areas where rate caps have already expired, prices have risen an average of 25%, with increases ranging from zero to 70%.

Though the PUC has already held some town hall meetings on the issue, Wagner says more should be done to inform consumers about these likely increases.

The Auditor General says consumers can shop the market, but it takes six to eight weeks to switch from one provider to the next. Wagner urges Pennsylvanians to call the PUC or their local electric supplier to find out more. The Public Utility Commission website can be found here.

Some Outages Till Late Sunday/Monday

More than 49 thousand people in southwestern Pennsylvania are still without electricity. Storms yesterday afternoon knocked out power to about 90,000 homes in the region.
Duquesne Light says 10,400 customers are still without service but all should be back on line by late Sunday night.
Allegheny Power says crews are working to restore electricity to another 39 thousand customers, mostly in Washington and Westmoreland Counties. The company says they expect everyone to have service by late Monday night.

2% Fee Proposed for Cutting into Pavement

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris has introduced legislation that would force utilities to pay the city a fee if they cut into a newly paved street. Harris says she has heard stories that utilities move into neighborhoods days after the streets are paved to being underground work because it is easier to cut into the fresh asphalt. The measure would force utilities to pay 2% of the cost of paving the street if they cut into it any time in the 4 years after it is paved. There is an exception for emergency repairs. The funds would be used to add extra sealant to the street after the utilities fill the holes. Harris says once the pavement is cut, water starts to get underneath and that shortens the life of the surface. She says the city does not have enough money in its budget to get to all of the streets that need to be resurfaced and shortening the life span of the pavement only makes matters worse.

Impact of Snow Storms Easing

Today is proving to be a better commute in some ways for people in the Pittsburgh area. The main roads are in good shape but that has led to more people deciding to get back to their normal routine, so volume of traffic is at its highest for this week.
Pittsburgh public works crews have been targeting trouble spots to get secondary and residential streets clear of snow. City officials are calling it the "blitz" which continued throughout the night and into this morning's rush hour. This morning crews are intensifying their efforts to clear streets in Squirrel Hill and South Side Flats.

At the request of the city, the Parking Authority is suspending fees and enforcement on Parking Authority surface lots and metered parking through Tuesday.
The Pennsylvania National Guard has demobilized their mission in the city to help residents with transportation for medical reasons or picking up prescriptions. A limited number of hum-vees and guardsmen will remain to assist public safety efforts.

The city's 3-1-1 response line is still operating 24 hours a day with 16 lines open. Operators took more than 2,000 calls yesterday....ten times their normal daily call volume.

About 18,000 Allegheny Power customers in southwestern Pennsylvania are still without electricity. Service is not expected to be completely restored till Sunday.
Duquesne Light says crews have reduced their number of outages to 160 and they should be restored by tonight.

FirstEnergy and Allegheny Energy Merge

Akron, Ohio based FirstEnergy is buying Greensburg based Allegheny Energy, Inc. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved a stock-for-stock transaction. Allegheny shareholders would receive 0.667 shares of FirstEnergy common stock in exchange for each share of Allegheny they own. Based on yesterday’s closing price that is more than a 30% premium per share and it puts a value on Allegheny Energy of $4.7 billion. Allegheny shareholders would own approximately 27% of the combined company. FirstEnergy spokesperson Scott Surgeoner says the deal is expected to take 12-14 months to complete. It is pending regulatory approval from all of the states involved and a few federal entities. The combined company will be headquartered at FirstEnergy’s home base of Akron and Surgeoner says it is unclear at this time what will happen to Allegheny Energy’s Greensburg office. He says a team of top management from both companies will be gathered to guide the transition and answer those types of questions. Surgeoner says the new company will have approximately $16 billion in annual revenues, operate ten electric distribution companies servicing more than six million customers, and nearly 20,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines. The production assets have approximately 24,000 megawatts of generating capacity. Surgeoner says the companies have contiguous service areas and fit well together in other ways. He says for customers, the merger should be seamless.


Service area images (Allegheny Energy left, FirstEnergy right) from company websites.

Caps Off In Parts of PA

Electric consumers in central and northeastern Pennsylvania are now dealing with the reality of a thirty percent increase in utility bills.
But PPL customers do have the option of slightly reducing those rates.
For a customer using a thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity, the average PPL bill will be around one hundred four dollars, according to data compiled by Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky’s office.
But Popowsky says customers who switch to one of five competing electricity suppliers, including Con Edison, Direct Energy and Liberty Power Holdings, can cut into that thirty percent increase.

"PPL is charging about ten and a half cents for every kilowatt hour of generation, and the marketers are charging about a penny less – in some cases a little more or a little bit less – but about a penny less per kilowatt-hour, so if you’re a customer and you’re using a thousand kilowatt-hours per month, you would save a penny per kilowatt-hour, or about ten dollars a month, if you switch."

A PPL customer who uses a thousand kilowatt-hours will likely see a 104-dollar bill this month.
Popowsky says about ten percent of PPL customers have already switched suppliers.
When other utilities’ rates expired in previous years, Popowsky says most customers didn’t make the switch.

"Well in the Duquesne territory in Pittsburgh we saw a lot of activity early on and about twenty percent of the residential customers switched – twenty to twenty five percent. But the majority of customers, the other 75 or 80 percent, continued to buy their generation from Duquesne. "

Another Western Pennsylvania utility, Penn Power, saw about ten percent of its customers changed suppliers.

Rate Cap Measure Could Move

Days after declaring the effort all but dead, Pennsylvania House Democratic leaders say they'll make a final push to pass a bill cushioning the impact of expiring electric rate caps.
PPL's rate caps come off on January 1st, which means central and northeastern Pennsylvania consumers might see their bills go up by thirty percent. Other companies' restrictions expire in 211.
A House bill that would phase in those increases hasn't seen any action since April, but Bob Caton, a spokesman for Speaker Keith McCall, says Democrats will try to pass it and send it to the Senate before the new year.
Caton says an amendment will ditch the bill's 20 percent cap on increases.

"There is no set percentage. It would just have to be broken up into three equal annual pieces. This way the people who are looking at their rates possibly going up would be able to plan for it a little better. They would be able to absorb the blow more easily and be able to plan for their economic future."

Governor Rendell says he supports the effort.
"We still need to do it. We still cannot rely on the fact that rates are low now, and therefore there's no immediacy to this problem. That can flip--we've seen it flip with a hurricane. We've seen it flip with international conditions. So we need to do something about what happens when the caps come off."

If the bill became law, a 15 percent increase could be be divided into three five percent hikes. Customers would have to pay interest on the deferred payments, though, so some industry experts say the program might not be worth the effort.
Electric Power Generation Association general counsel Terry Fitzpatrick equates the option to a loan customers would be taking out to pay their bills.

Electric Rate Caps to Expire

With a month to go before electric rate caps start expiring for millions of Pennsylvania consumers, a House bill aimed at curbing rate increases appears to have stalled.
At the beginning of this year’s legislative session, House Democratic leaders said they’d make expiring rate caps a priority. A centerpiece of that plan was House Bill 20, which would limit rate increases to fifteen percent a year through 2012.
But the legislation hasn’t seen action since late April, when it was recommitted to the Appropriations Committee. Democratic spokesman Brett Marcy says party leaders started looking for alternatives when it became clear utility companies would demand interest on the deferred payments.

"The amount of money that the utility companies would have been able to recover from basically phasing in those increases in payment were something we believed could have been concerting to consumers. We didn’t want to help consumers while at the same time hurting them on the back end."

Gene Stilp of Taxpayers and Ratepayers United didn’t like House Bill 20 at the beginning. Stilp says lawmakers have time to expand rate caps.

"There’s a one-month clock of legislation. I’d like to see these legislators work around the clock through the month of December to ease the burden of the rate payers come January 1. And it can be done."

But Marcy says it probably won’t be moved in December. Caps for PPL customers disappear January 1. Met-Ed, Pennelec and other utilities’ caps expire in 2011.

Pa. DEP Hosts Energy Workshops for Nonprofits

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held several energy efficiency and conservation workshops as part of its annual Be Utility Wise meeting today. Utility providers and nonprofit agencies attended to learn the latest in energy efficiency news and state assistance programs, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Area electricity providers presented updates on their plans to reduce demand 4.5% by 2013, as delineated by Act 129 of 2008. DEP spokeswoman Holly Cairns says each company had a different method of achieving this goal and other community outreach programs required by Act 129.

Cairns says the conservation consultants who attended workshops today will pass the information they learned on to the public through their various agencies to help support smarter energy usage and promote assistance programs like LIHEAP.

Rate Cap Legislation Amended

Pennsylvania House Speaker Keith McCall and Democratic Majority Leader Todd Eachus have both thrown their weight behind a measure that would limit utility bill increases to 15% a year once rate caps begin expiring in 2010. However, the House Consumer Affairs Committee has amended the measure, and raised the limit to twenty percent. House Democratic spokesman Brett Marcy says party leaders plan on fighting to restore the fifteen percent cap when the bill reaches the full floor. He says, “That's an issue that we feel strongly about. We believe that language is not consumer-friendly. And we're going to work to improve his bill and enhance it from where it's at.” Experts say Pennsylvanians' electric bills could rise by thirty percent or more once rate caps expire. The amended bill would also let utilities collect interest on any deferred payments. Marcy says Democratic leaders take issue with that change, too, and will try to remove the language. Utilities say without the interest, they'd take a financial hit from the measure.

Gubernatorial Candidate Wants to Limit Rate Hikes

A Democratic gubernatorial candidate who is making the impending rate cap expiration a centerpiece of his campaign, says he's not impressed by a House bill aimed at curbing utility bill increases. A measure backed by House Speaker Keith McCall, Majority Leader Todd Eachus and other Democratic representatives would limit rate hikes to fifteen percent a year, once caps start expiring in 2010.
But, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Knox of Philadelphia says he's not impressed.

"How about five percent a year? Fifteen percent is too high. Let's just say five percent a year and the cost of inflation. That might be OK."

Experts say utility rates could increase by 40 percent or more after state regulations are lifted.
Knox says if elected, he'd push for a state authority that would buy and distribute Pennsylvania's energy. He says that could reduce rates over the coming years.
Knox is a millionaire businessman, and says he'll self-finance much of his campaign.
He ran for mayor of Philadelphia in 2007, finishing second to Michael Nutter in the Democratic primary.

CMU Takes Over Smart Grid Planning Model

The Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University has taken control of a tool developed by IBM that could save utilities millions of dollars while improving the nations power grid. The “Smart Grid Maturity Model” is a tool that combines and assess efforts by electric companies that have undertaken efforts to upgrade to smart grid technologies. From that data, it creates a model that other utilities can use to make sure they go about the process in the most efficient way possible. The electricity grid has been described as the “largest and most complex machine in the world.” Experts say it is now critically overburdened. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if the North American grid were 5% more efficient, the energy savings would equate to eliminating the fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars. The Smart Grid Maturity Model will serve as a strategic framework for utilities, vendors, regulators, and consumers that have a role in smart grid transformation -- from technological to regulatory to organizational. SEI has been building and operating efficiency models since the 80’s. Deputy Director Bill Wilson says they have not had a chance to play with the model yet. He says the first step will be to evaluate the model, determine what information is and is not relevant and then talk to industry stakeholders about their experiences and needs. Paul Nielsen, CEO and director of the SEI says, "The Smart Grid Maturity Model developed by IBM creates a roadmap of activities, investments, and best practices that leads to creating a smart grid. Utilities using the model will be able to establish the appropriate development path, communicate the strategy and vision, and assess current opportunities."

Utility Shutoffs Soar in Pennsylvania

A report released by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) says utility shutoffs in Pennsylvania have soared since a 2004 law was passed, giving utility companies more authority to stop service to nonpaying customers. The law was passed in order to increase bill collections. However, PUC spokesperson Jennifer Kocher said the gas industry has seen improved bill collections, but the electric industry has not. Also, while there are record numbers in utility shutoffs in Pennsylvania, Kocher said there are also record numbers in utility re-connections.

Kocher said the passed law is partially to blame for the rise in shutoffs, but the United States financial crisis has also been involved in customers not being able to pay their bills. She said utility companies are required to tell their customers about community-based and utility-based programs to assist in paying bills and maintaining service, if a customer is facing a termination notice.

To see a full report, go to http://www.puc.state.pa.us/General/publications_reports/pdf/06-07_PUC_Ann_Rpt.pdf.

Thousands In Pittsburgh Area Still Without Power

Four days after winds gusting up to 79 miles per hour tore down power lines throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, about 25 thousand homes and businesses are still without electricity. Duquesne Light says about 11,000 customers are still without service. Those in the Point Breeze, East Liberty, Oakland and Squirrel Hill sections of Pittsburgh plus Wilkinsburg and West Homestead should be restored by 11 o'clock tonight. A Duquesne Light spokesman says northern and western Allegheny County and Beaver County continue to have the largest numbers of customers still experiencing outages. The utility projects power will be restored to them by late Friday.
Penn Power reports about 11,500 customers in the Pittsburgh region still without service. The company is bringing in supplemental line crews and hopes to have everyone restored by Sunday morning.