A bill from West Chester state Rep. Chris Pielli to end a profit bonus for electric utilities cleared the House Energy Committee on Wednesday, Sept. 30.

House Bill 2755, co-sponsored by Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler of Philadelphia, who chairs the Energy Committee, would require investor-owned utilities to join a regional transmission organization (RTO) by state law. That mandate would eliminate a 0.5% bonus that federal regulators currently allow utilities to collect from customers for voluntarily joining an RTO, according to News from the States, which covered the committee session.

The bill passed with bipartisan support. The specific vote count has not been released.

Every Pennsylvania electric utility already belongs to PJM Interconnection, the Montgomery County-based nonprofit that manages electricity supply for the commonwealth and 12 other states plus Washington, D.C. Pielli said the bonus serves little purpose because membership is already universal.

"The logic is that if RTO participation is mandated by state law, then FERC's incentive is no longer applicable," Pielli said at the committee hearing, referring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Under current law, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) would need to file a complaint with FERC to end the incentive. H.B. 2755 sidesteps that process by making membership mandatory at the state level.

Pielli pointed to New Jersey, where eliminating the same bonus saved ratepayers about $20 million a year. Maryland and Ohio have passed similar mandates and won federal court challenges upholding them, he said.

Pennsylvania electricity customers have seen bills rise by up to 20% in back-to-back years, News from the States reported.

The bill now heads to the full House. The chamber has six voting days left in October — Oct. 5, 6, 7, 19, 20 and 21 — and two more on Nov. 9 and 10 before the session ends. Steve Petro, the committee's executive director, said members hope to pass the legislation in both chambers before adjournment.

Pielli's press release framed the bill as a way to "restore balance by tipping the scales back in favor of Pennsylvania families." Residents can reach his district office at 121 W. Miner St., Suite 1E, in West Chester.