Title
Authorizing City Council's Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to convene public hearings to take public testimony from the City Administration, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) management, the general public and other interested parties in order to develop recommendations including legislative strategies for modifying PGW's Senior Citizen Discount program in light of Pennsylvania's Natural Gas Choice and Competition Act, which abolishes the Senior Citizen Discount for Senior Citizen customers of PGW effective September 1, 2003.
Body
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia operates the municipally owned PGW pursuant to a Management Agreement and ordinance enacted on December 29, 1972; and
WHEREAS, The Management Agreement was amended by ordinance on December 14, 1973 to authorize the Philadelphia Gas Commission to establish a Senior Citizen Discount of 20% of all charges for any PGW applicants 65 years or older who is a PGW heating and/or non-heating customer; and
WHEREAS, For almost 30 years, Philadelphia's Senior Citizens who are PGW customers have been receiving the Senior Citizen Discount. Throughout those years, the Senior Citizen Discount program has provided critical protection to Philadelphia Seniors, many of whom live on fixed incomes which are not sufficient to meet the spiraling costs of healthcare, prescription drugs, energy costs and other living expenses; and
WHEREAS, The Senior Citizen Discount program currently assists approximately 82,000 PGW customers by reducing the cost of natural gas service that since 2000 has increased by approximately 40%; and
WHEREAS, On June 22, 1999, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted the Natural Gas Choice and Competition Act (hereinafter the "Act"); and
WHEREAS, The Act provided for the transfer of jurisdiction over PGW's rates and Tariff as of July 1, 2000 from the Philadelphia Gas Commission to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission; and
WHEREAS, Section 2212 (r) of the A...
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