Press Release

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today approved the contribution rates of three counties for local  911 systems.

The PUC approved the 911 System Renewal Plans received from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) for Adams, Lebanon and Montour counties.

The Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act of 1990 provided for a statewide 911 emergency communication system to be administered by PEMA. The law allows counties to recover the cost for  911 systems by assessing a fee on every telephone line. The local phone companies collect the fees for the county. The maximum fee that can be collected is $1.50 per telephone line.

Adams County is not requesting any change in the current contribution rate of $1.50 per access line per month. The county has a population of approximately 78,274. United Telephone and GTE serve the county.

Lebanon County is not requesting any change in the current contribution rate of $1.25 per access line per month. Lebanon County’s service area has a population of approximately 118,025. Bell Atlantic, Denver and Ephrata Telephone, CTSI, GTE, United Telephone, ATX, Capital Telecommunications, Metro Teleconnect, and Nextlink serve the county.

Montour County is not requesting any change in the current contribution rate of $1.50 per access line per month. The county has a population of approximately 17,735. Bell Atlantic and ALLTEL serve the county.

The PUC is responsible for reviewing the contribution rate requested by the county and forwarding a decision to PEMA. The PUC has 90 days to submit its recommendations to PEMA as to whether the counties proposed contribution rate should be approved or modified.

For recent news releases, or more information about the PUC, visit our Internet homepage: http://puc.paonline.com.

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Adams County Docket No. M-00910310

Lebanon County Docket No. M-00930392