The approval of electricity customer choice legislation by Pennsylvania's lawmakers is excellent news for the state's electricity users and for the economic vitality of the commonwealth, Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.'s chairman said Tuesday (11/26).

"This is landmark legislation that will benefit Pennsylvania consumers and businesses," said William F. Hecht, PP&L's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "And, it also sends a clear signal that Pennsylvania is an excellent place to do business."

Hecht said the legislation, which opens up the electricity marketplace to competition beginning as early as Jan. 1, 1999, places Pennsylvania at the forefront of this national movement.

"The passage of this bill represents a commitment to bringing new businesses — and new jobs — to Pennsylvania," said Hecht. "The bill fairly addresses the interests of all who depend on our electricity system. We are very pleased that customers could have the option of choosing their electricity generator as early as 1999, a target that we have been supporting since early this year."

The approval of this legislation and the anticipated signature by Gov. Ridge signals the beginning of the transition to a more open electricity marketplace in Pennsylvania, Hecht said.

"With the transition legislation in place, PP&L and the other state electric utilities now face the substantial challenge of redesigning our companies to meet the ambitious timetable established by this bill. We are looking forward to working with the Public Utility Commission and others to finalize and implement PP&L's transition plan," said Hecht.

Under the legislation passed early Tuesday, customers would have the option of choosing the company that generates their electricity. PP&L and the state's other utilities would continue to provide delivery services through existing transmission and distribution facilities. The current utility companies would retain responsibility for restoring electricity service following outages.

The approved legislation also calls for utilities to file competition pilot programs so that up to 5 percent of customers can begin shopping for generation by April 1997. PP&L already has filed its pilot program with the PUC.

PP&L, based in Allentown, provides electricity service to more than 1.2 million customers in central and eastern Pennsylvania. PP&L is a subsidiary of PP&L Resources, Inc. Other PP&L Resources subsidiaries include Power Markets Development, a worldwide power company, and Spectrum Energy Services, which offers a variety of energy-related services.