Committee recommends appealing PUC denial of community choice aggregation petition

The Public Health and Safety Committee voted to recommend that full council join other municipalities in appealing the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's denial of a Community Choice Aggregation petition, a move proponents say would make renewable energy the default for residential accounts.

The committee recommendation, made during a regularly scheduled meeting and approved by a voice vote, directs the borough's representative to ask the full council to join an appeal filed in court. Committee chair Jeanie Bora said the appeal deadline is Sept. 15 and that several neighboring boroughs have already committed to joining the appeal.

The Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) proposal would pool demand among participating municipalities so the default energy supplier for residential customers would be a renewable provider rather than the incumbent distributor. "The Community Choice Aggregate is a multi-municipal joint effort to obtain clean energy as a default essentially for residential properties within the borough," said Maggie, a staff member who described the program's structure at the meeting.

According to staff, the state Public Utility Commission denied the joint petition on the grounds that the proposed aggregation could be anti-competitive; pro bono legal counsel has agreed to represent the group of municipalities through the appeals process. Maggie said the legal work being offered is pro bono and that six boroughs have committed to the appeal, with two still considering participation.

The committee did not authorize any financial commitment for the appeal; staff said the current legal representation is pro bono. The recommendation now goes to the full borough council for a final vote at its next meeting.

If the full council approves joining the appeal, the matter will proceed through the courts rather than being reconsidered at the PUC. No timetable for the court process was provided at the meeting.

Action on the recommendation will be taken at the next full-council meeting.