Reacting to an administrative law judge recommendation on Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.'s proposed rate increase, the company today (7/31) said it will continue to work toward a decision that equitably balances the interests of customers and the shareowners of PP&L and contributes to the utility's ability to provide high-quality service over the long-term.

"While we respect the opinion of Administrative Law Judge Christianson, we believe that his recommendation is contrary to the facts presented in the case," said Ronald E. Hill, PP&L's senior vice president-Financial. "This recommendation is particularly disappointing in light of the fact that we have made a point of avoiding base rate increases for 10 years -- a record that is unmatched among Pennsylvania utilities."

While the company has not yet had time to analyze the specifics of the recommendation, Hill said PP&L will respond, point-by-point, during the comment period allowed under Public Utility Commission regulations. "While we believe we already have provided adequate justification for all the items in this request, we again will make our case for a rate structure that allows us to continue to provide the excellent service that the people of Central Eastern Pennsylvania have come to expect from PP&L."

Under PUC procedures, the administrative law judge recommendation will be acted upon by the five-member commission, which has the final responsibility for setting utility rates. "We understand that none of our customers wishes to pay increased rates for our service, but we believe that there are basic fairness issues at stake in this case. We made a good faith effort -- over a 10-year period -- to keep our rates stable for our customers. In fact, on several occasions in the last decade, we voluntarily decreased rates to reflect changes in our costs," Hill said.

"Even with the full amount of the increase we requested, our average customer's rates would have increased by only 8 percent in the past 10 years -- at a time when the consumer prices generally increased by more than 30 percent," he said.

PP&L has requested an 11.7 percent increase in its total revenues, or $261 million. Christianson recommended that PP&L rates be increased by $61.7 million.