At a time when energy costs are soaring and many families and small businesses are struggling to keep up with monthly bills, it is important to ensure that ratepayer dollars are used solely for delivering safe, reliable utility service—not to advance political agendas.

While Pennsylvania law currently prohibits utilities from using ratepayer dollars for political advertising and lobbying, other non-service-related expenses are not prohibited, such as association dues, traveling and lodging, gifts, and flights for board members. Moreover, utilities are not required to disclose and itemize the costs of lobbying and other non-service-related activities to the Pennsylvania Utility Commission. This creates a legal gray area that could be exploited by investor-owned utilities aiming to maximize shareholder profits at the expense of its customers.

Our bill will strengthen the law, prohibiting the recovery of expenses that do not directly benefit customers and adding reporting requirements so that regulators can verify that utilities are not recovering any lobbying or political activity expenses through customer rates. These costs must be borne by utility shareholders, not the people who are already making difficult choices to afford basic energy needs.

This common-sense public utility reform promotes transparency, restores public trust, and puts consumers first. 

We urge you to join us in supporting legislation to help protect affordability and make sure that every dollar paid by ratepayers goes toward the essential services they depend on.