Pennsylvania Electricity Rates Spiking By As Much As 50 Percent

Blame it on the polar vortex.

Effective Sunday, Metropolitan Edison customers will see electricity generation rates spike 25.4 percent.

Overall, the company’s electric bills — of which generation is one part — are rising 16 percent, from $93 to nearly $108 a month for the average residential consumer using 750 kilowatt-hours a month, said Met-Ed spokesman Scott Surgeoner.

The reason is two-fold: Demand during the summer, when prices normally rise, is one factor, and the utility purchased some of the electricity for the upcoming three-month period “during the January polar vortex, when prices were extremely high,” he said.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/05/pennsylvania_electricity_rates.html

Pittsburgh’s Water And Sewer Rates Will Rise To Cover Capital Improvements

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority customers will see their rates rise over the next four years to help pay for capital improvement to the city’s antiquated infrastructure, projected to cost $150 million over the next three years.

The board of PWSA voted todaty to approve a graduated rate increases for 2014 through 2017. The average household customer will see rates increase about $8.29 a month over three years, from $42.03 a month to $50.32 a month. Rates will rise about $3 a month for the first year, $1.94 for the second, $1.26 for the third and 77 cents for the fourth.

Larger consumers — like industrial customers — will share a larger portion of the increased burden.

The additional revenue will be used to pay down the $150 million bond issue expected to be finalized by the end of this year.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburghs-water-and-sewer-rates-will-rise-to-cover-capital-improvements-707198/#ixzz2hRV7cnjN

Investors Come Forward With Harrisburg Incinerator And Parking Deals

Image via Wikipedia

A new player has entered the “who wants the Harrisburg incinerator” sweepstakes while the Lancaster County Solid Waste Authority ups their ante.

New York investor Jacob Frydman has offered a deal that includes leasing the incinerator and the city’s parking system.  Frydman and company are mainly interested in the parking system.  They are offering a deal that would net Harrisburg $240 million.  Of course this means parking rates and trash rates will instantly increase as somebody has to shoulder the debt and the investor needs to show a profit.

The Lancaster County Solid Waste Authority has upped their offer to $124 million and would increase tipping fees for county residents while reducing fees for city residents, who pay much more.  The goal would be to have city and county residents paying the same for trash service in twenty years.  Lancaster has no interest in the parking system.

The Act 47 team will also have a plan for the incinerator debt as well.  They may suggest an entirely different scenario than either of these two proposals.