Utility, critics debate where the buck stops

Metropolitan Edison Co. says it's being pinched by skyrocketing energy prices, and it needs an unscheduled rate increase to catch up.

Critics say Met-Ed made bad decisions and is trying to renege on a deal it made with Pennsylvania's energy users.

Met-Ed and its sister utility, Pennsylvania

The rate case will be complicated. It hinges on conflicting interpretations of the 1998 deregulation agreements between the state and the two utilities.

The premise of those agreements was that utilities could charge customers for the cost of generation facilities they had built in previous years. In exchange, the utilities would cap what they charge customers for generation until those costs were recovered.

Met-Ed and Penelec argue that the 1998 deal still allows them to seek an increase in generation fees if 80 percent of their customers are not served by alternate suppliers and wholesale costs have risen to certain levels.