Utilities Ask to Bill for Security Fees By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer January 3, 2003, 4:49 PM EST PHILADELPHIA -- A growing number of utility companies are asking states for permission to add security fees to customers' bills to recover the cost of protecting themselves against possible terrorist attack. A survey conducted last year by the National Regulatory Research Institute and released in November said at least 13 states had been approached by a utility for a rate adjustment related to security costs. Last week, the Pennsylvania-American Water Co. told 600,000 customers that it had asked regulators for permission to charge 4 cents a day -- a total of $14.60 annually -- for terrorism-protection measures. The company said it will spend about $8.7 million this year on improved security. Most of the money will pay for more security patrols around reservoirs and filtration plants. "Since Sept. 11 we remain on heightened security and hope to recoup our costs related to security," company spokeswoman Joi Corrado said. Natural gas supplier PG Energy is considering a similar move, spokeswoman Donna M. Gillis said. "We are evaluating all our options to recover costs related to increased expenses we incur due to tightened security," she said. The government, fearing that terrorists might try to sabotage power stations or poison water supplies, has urged utilities to beef up security -- at significant cost. The American Water Works Association, which represents water utilities, estimates that at least $1.5 billion is needed to protect water supplies alone. Michigan's state Senate in December approved two bills that would let electric utilities impose fees related to anti-terrorism efforts, bypassing a moratorium on rate hikes passed three years ago. Increases would still need to be approved by state regulators. The bills await action in the Michigan House. http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-terrorism-surcharge0103j an03,0,1453495.story -- **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
