Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law on Wednesday a piece of legislation that will force the state’s utilities to stop the growth of power usage and then decrease it by 1% each year beginning in 2011. Currently, growth is at 1-2% annually. Power companies face very steep fines, up to $20 million, if they do not comply with the new mandate.
Currently, Pennsylvania ranks 26th in The Frasier Institute Economic Freedom of Northern America Annual Report. This report compares economic freedom and prosperity among the states and Canada and Mexico. It will be interesting to see, not only how much the new regulations increase the consumers’ power bill, but also if Pennsylvania will see their prosperity ranking decline too. For the complete article on Yahoo News, click here.