Speakers at PPL hearing say plan to cut energy consumption isn't enough

A plan proposed by PPL to reduce the energy consumption of its customers should include more options and not rely so heavily on compact fluorescent light bulbs. That was the prevailing sentiment Thursday at a public hearing that drew 30 people to downtown Bethlehem to discuss the four-year, $246 million plan, which will affect 1.4 million PPL customers. About 10 people testified regarding the proposal, which the state Public Utility Commission is scheduled to vote on by the end of October. [...] The company has proposed curtailing power consumption by 1.3 billion kilowatt hours by mid-2013. That's the equivalent of all PPL's residential customers killing their power use for a month, according to the company. At issue is a PPL plan to charge customers $246 million over four years to implement energy conservation programs mandated by the state. The typical residential customer would pay an extra $24 a year beginning in December to pay for the programs.

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