The Pennsylvania State Senate recently advanced legislation introduced by state Rep. Brad Roae (R-Crawford/Erie) that would update several laws related to public utilities.
“This is commonsense legislation to update Pennsylvania’s public utility laws,” Roae said. “We want to help consumers by empowering utilities to provide better service.”
Under current law, utilities and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) are required to communicate through registered or certified mail in certain situations involving lawsuits. Roae’s bill would permit them to communicate via email if both parties agree to it.
“Requiring utility companies and regulators to send thousands of documents through the mail is time-consuming and expensive,” Roae said. “It costs money, and ratepayers wind up paying for it one way or another. Empowering utilities to communicate through email is a commonsense change in this day and age.”
The bill would also update how water and sewer utilities’ income tax liability is calculated to bring it in line with how electric and natural gas utilities are taxed. The tax change relates specifically to a provision that affects water and sewer utilities when they extend service to a new area. It would also update the legal definition of a service line to include water and sewer lines.
“Pennsylvanians rely on utilities for a variety of services, and those utilities function based on the laws that I am working with my colleagues to update and reform,” Roae said. “Our focus is on creating a system that works with utilities to serve their customers.”
The bill now heads to the governor’s desk.
“I hope the governor will move swiftly to sign this important utility reform bill into law,” Roae said.