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March 11, 2010 | Policy Brief by NATHAN BENEFIELD, ELIZABETH BRYAN
The Case for a Citizen Legislature
The operating cost of the Pennsylvania General Assembly has steadily increased, while Pennsylvania's economy has been stagnant. The Keystone State's burden of state and local taxes is among the heaviest in the country, while it ranks near the bottom in economic growth and freedom. This reality can be addressed by a number of reforms that would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Pennsylvania's legislature.
February 17, 2010 | Commentary by ELIZABETH BRYAN
The True Cost of Unemployment Compensation
Pennsylvania's unemployment compensation fund is bankrupt. Beginning in March 2009, the Keystone State borrowed over $2 billion from the federal government to keep it solvent. Unfortunately, unemployment continues to grow, making a bad situation worse. Since December 2007, Pennsylvania has lost more than 200,000 jobs. It is imperative that policymakers revisit the unemployment compensation system and understand how the existing structure hinders economic recovery.
February 16, 2010 | Policy Brief by ELIZABETH BRYAN, KATRINA CURRIE
Business Guide to Electric Choice & Competition
In the late 1990s, Pennsylvania's electricity rates were 15% above the national average, despite the abundance of low-cost coal generation in the Commonwealth. At that time, electricity was sold by a monopoly utility provider per designated region. Then federal regulations changed to allow electricity markets to develop. The state legislature responded with the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act, signed in December 1996, promising lower prices and better service through generation competition and consumer choice.
Recent Blog Posts
MARCH 12, 2010
Could Municipalities Provide Cheaper Electricity?
Last week the State House Committee on Consumer Affairs held a hearing on legislation which would allow municipalities to act as electricity aggregators for residents, unless they opt-out for another supplier. Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky explains:
The theory behind municipal aggregation is that by aggregating the buying power of a
large number of small customers, a non-profit municipal entity can get a better deal for those
customers than if those customers each go out and shop for electricity on an individual basis. In addition, many customers may have neither sufficient interest nor sufficient understanding to choose their own supplier of a product that they have never had to shop for.
While this could go a long way in encouraging competition, Duquesne Light and other Providers of Last Resort (POLR) point out that allowing entire municipalities to choose alternative suppliers creates more uncertainty, making it difficult for them to provide "least-cost" electricity through long and short-term contracts, as mandated in Act 129.
Any opt-out program should be free of restrictions or penalties that would prevent residents from leaving the municipalities program at any time. Municipal aggregators can be an effective tool to encourage more electricity shopping but, giving the power to elected leaders to negotiate contracts could easily lead to cronyism. Municipalities should stick to opt-in programs, where residents have to opt into the city's electricity aggregation maximizing consumer choice.
posted by ELIZABETH BRYAN | 10:34 AM | 0 comment
MARCH 9, 2010
Sign the Petition for an Independent Investigation of Dr. Mann
Penn State YAF's (Young Americans for Freedom) petition for academic integrity is now online! O
n February 12th almost a hundred students and citizens gathered to demand a fair and thorough investigation of Dr. Mann instead of the whitewash recently conducted by Penn State.
You can sign your name by going to www.yaf.com/petition. The petition will be delivered to the General Assembly asking them to conduct an independent investigation of Dr. Mann and his research which has widely influenced the scientific community and reaped millions in federal stimulus dollars.
posted by ELIZABETH BRYAN | 10:07 AM | 0 comment
MARCH 3, 2010
A Low-Carbon Fuel Standard is Bad Policy
Days before Pennsylvanians rang in the New Year, Gov. Rendell signed an agreement that paves the way for one of the most radical (and expensive) changes in Pennsylvania's energy history.
The Governor, with little fanfare, obligated Pennsylvania to reduce the carbon intensity of all transportation and home heating fuels sold in the Commonwealth through a "memorandum of understanding" with 10 neighboring states. The policy is called a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the goal is to lower carbon fuel usage, ease our dependence on foreign oil, and create jobs, however a LCFS will do none of the above.
Failure to Lower Carbon Fuel Usage: LCFS would do nothing to lower global GHG emissions; it may even increase them. A study shows the decreases high carbon fuel production could increase low carbon fuel
production, possibly increasing net carbon emissions.
Foreign Oil: The argument against foreign oil is a red herring. The United States imports the vast majority of it's oil from Canada and Mexico, not the middle east. Fuels which take more energy to produce and refine receive worse scores under a LCFS, this includes Canadian fuel. Basically the policy would force companies to purchase more expensive oil from the middle east.
Loss of good-paying U.S. jobs: An LCFS would institute a de facto ban on acquiring secure supplies of North American oil from which the fuels we use are generated. Without those energy sources, not only does the price of fuel increase and availability decrease, but Americans whose jobs were tied to that energy may find themselves out of work.
For more information on LCFS go to SecureOurFuels.org.
posted by ELIZABETH BRYAN | 10:46 AM | 0 comment
