Shopping for Clean Electricity - Breinigsville, PA

"Shopping for Clean Electricity"

Pennsylvania's "Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act" was signed into law in 1996. Until then, only utility companies could sell electricity in Pennsylvania. There was no competition and our prices were about 15% above the national average. The Act gave consumers the right to choose who generates our electricity. This led to more choices for consumers, introduced competition among generators vying for our business and lowered prices. (Rate caps, all of which expired by 2010, were also part of this Act.) PA utility companies still distribute electricity, but now we choose who generates our electricity, and how they do it! Many generators offer electricity from renewable energy sources including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.

To address this abundance of riches, we are very pleased to have Christina Simeone as speaker for our September meeting. Currently Energy Center Director at PennFuture, she previously served as policy director for the Alliance for Climate Protection where she worked on climate and energy legislation in Congress and the national climate campaign Repower America. She served as an executive policy specialist at the PA Department of Environmental Protection and is now chair of the DEP's Climate Change Advisory Committee. She holds a master's degree in environmental studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and undergraduate degrees in economics and music. Her presentation will explain the terms and topics we need to know to select an electricity supplier that soundly reflects our environmental values and personal priorities.