In February 2021, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a declaratory order finding that a utility did not need to pay certain municipal permitting fees because those fees were preempted by the Pennsylvania...more
The buyer of a business obviously must do its due diligence. Part of this due diligence is identifying any permits, licenses, or certificates that must be transferred to the buyer (or otherwise obtained by the buyer) at or...more
Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS Act) requires that a certain percentage of the electric energy that electric distribution companies (EDCs) and electric generation suppliers (EGSs) sell to...more
5/14/2021
/ Economic Development ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Infrastructure ,
Net Metering ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Public Utility ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Solar Energy ,
Solid Waste ,
Wind Power
On March 11, 2021, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted to take additional steps toward returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic procedures for collecting amounts due for public utility service in Pennsylvania. ...more
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Code (Code) gives the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) extensive authority to regulate public utilities in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has held that the General...more
2/24/2021
/ Energy Policy ,
Fees ,
General Assembly ,
Infrastructure ,
Municipalities ,
Oil & Gas ,
PA Supreme Court ,
Permits ,
Preemption ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Right of Way ,
State and Local Government
On February 19, 2021, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed the fourth 90-day renewal of his Proclamation of Disaster Declaration for the COVID-19 Pandemic. Significantly for Pennsylvania public utilities ...more
One of the traditional reasons for government intervention in the marketplace is market failure. A classic example of a market failure is a natural monopoly such as a public utility. Most economists agree that government...more
In a recent case in the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), a party filed a petition for issuance of an interim emergency order pursuant to 52 Pa. Code § 3.6. ...more
In March, 2020, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously issued an emergency order that generally prohibited Pennsylvania electric, natural gas, water, wastewater, telecommunications, and steam utilities...more
10/20/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Electricity ,
Emergency Orders ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Moratorium ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Public Utility ,
Relief Measures ,
State and Local Government
In March 2020, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued an emergency order that prohibits Pennsylvania electric, natural gas, water, wastewater, telecommunications, and steam utilities from terminating...more
8/31/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Failure To Pay ,
Goods or Services ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Moratorium ,
Natural Gas ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Public Utility ,
Wastewater
On July 21, 2020, a unanimous Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued its decision in Crown Castle NG East LLC and Pennsylvania-CLE LLC v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 2 MAP 2019 (July 21, 2020). Reversing the...more
On June 18, 2020, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC or commission) voted 2-2 (along party lines) to maintain its moratorium on utility terminations while Governor Tom Wolf’s Proclamation of Disaster Emergency on...more
On Thursday, June 18, 2020, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted 2-2 to maintain the PUC’s moratorium on utility terminations while Governor Tom Wolf’s Proclamation of Disaster Emergency (the...more
On May 12, 2020, a three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that certain net metering regulations of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) are invalid and unenforceable. ...more
In several recent cases, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC or Commission) simultaneously ordered: (1) the commencement of an investigation into whether the Commission should order a troubled small water or...more
In a choice between infrastructure reinvestment and a direct pass-through of the tax savings to ratepayers, the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PA PUC) has chosen a direct pass-through and claimed...more
On March 28, 2018, Duquesne Light Company (Duquesne) filed a base rate case with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to increase rates annually by $133.8 million. Buried deep in that proposal is a request to...more
On March 15, 2018, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) entered a temporary rates order that converted commission-approved rates of most large Pennsylvania public utilities into “temporary rates” for a period of...more
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) currently has a detailed regulation, 52 Pa. Code § 53.53, describing the information that must be submitted to the Commission to support a proposed general rate...more
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently signed Senate Bill 242 into law, a legislative initiative designed to make significant changes to Pennsylvania’s “One Call System,” a warning system for excavators that helps them avoid...more
In one of the first acquisitions to be decided pursuant to a 2016 amendment to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Code (Code) that allows a public utility to rate base fair market value instead of depreciated original cost, the...more