Pittsburgh Post Gazette, April 22, 2021. Laura Legere.
Pennsylvania Senate Republicans are blocking Gov. Tom Wolf’s appointments to the state Public Utility Commission until the Democratic governor drops his effort to use executive authority to join a regional partnership for cutting climate pollution from power plants.
In a letter dated Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward and the 26 other members of the chamber’s majority caucus wrote to the governor they view blocking confirmations to the crucial regulatory body as one of the “very few options” available to them, short of a lawsuit, “to reinstitute proper checks and balances in this particular situation.”
The PUC, an independent commission, has a key role in overseeing the state’s electric, natural gas, telecommunications and water utilities, including establishing rules and rates.
Mr. Wolf’s spokeswoman, Lyndsay Kensinger, said the senators were setting a “reckless precedent” by “using an appointment to a critical commission, which serves all Pennsylvanians, as a hostage.”
Full Article HERE
PennFuture link to email your rep about this HERE