Press Release

HARRISBURG -- Addressing the annual Winter Reliability Assessment Meeting, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Glen R. Thomas today briefed state utility leaders on their role in ensuring the success of the Governor’s Task Force on Security.

"Gov. Mark Schweiker’s Task Force on Security has great relevance to what you all focused on today: ensuring continued reliability in a new world," Chairman Thomas said. "The Task Force has been charged with recommending to the Governor how to make our Commonwealth even more secure. And we’ve been given 45 days to get the job done.

"I have said repeatedly that the PUC considers each of you as great partners in this effort. We are operating from a position of great strength. The PUC and Pennsylvania’s utilities have worked together closely to successfully prepare and respond to weather-related emergencies and Y2K. Now we have a new threat, and I know that together we will be prepared.

"This is a partnership. We will continue to contact you for information and input as we move forward. We will treat sensitive material with the propriety it warrants."

Chairman Thomas thanked the attendees for their prompt response to security concerns since Sept. 11; for their tremendous emergency response to the attacks and to the plane crash in Somerset County; and for helping Pennsylvania make it through a record heat wave in August without having to resort to blackouts or brownouts. 

Chairman Thomas also today expressed optimism for the state’s consumers this winter, with lower prices expected for electricity and natural gas.

The PUC hosts a Winter Reliability Assessment Meeting each October to discuss how the state’s utilities are planning to respond to the winter energy demand for electricity and natural gas, as well as supply interruptions caused by weather and forced outages. The meeting also focused on employing Demand Side Response programs to reduce customer natural gas use this winter and electric consumption for summer 2002.

The Chairman’s concluding remarks at the Winter Reliability Assessment Meeting immediately followed the first meeting of the Governor’s Task Force on Security.

In his first act as Governor, Schweiker named Chairman Thomas and 12 other state and local officials to the Task Force on Security -- responsible for submitting a report and recommendations to the Governor no later than Nov. 20. One focus will be protecting critical infrastructure, such as natural gas and electric transmission lines, electric generation facilities, and water-supply systems. Chairman Thomas is the Task Force member responsible for addressing these utility-related issues.

Earlier this week, the PUC emergency management team helped to staff the Emergency Operations Center activated by Gov. Schweiker after the attack on Afghanistan ordered by President Bush.

The PUC is charged with ensuring Pennsylvania consumers have access to safe, affordable and reliable electric, natural gas, water, telephone and transportation service, as well as serving as stewards of competition.