The LuLac Edition #1072, Jan. 17th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: GATEWAY ENERGY LOGO AND PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE SPEAKER KEITH McCALL.

ENERGY ERA BEGINS

Gateway Energy Services plans to begin marketing its electricity offer on Monday, more than two weeks after rate caps expired for PPL Electric Utilities customers.
Those who waited, however, stand to benefit. The rate Gateway is offering, with all comparable taxes and fees included, is guaranteed to be at least 10.5-percent lower than PPL’s 2010 offering. PPL’s price to compare through December 2010 is 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Gateway’s offer for the same time period is 9.35 cents per kwh. The rate has a cancellation fee of $12.50 for each month of the contract that isn’t completed. The fixed rates include the cancellation fee. The variable rate has no cancellation fee, but the rate could go up or down depending on current market conditions. Military service members, both currently active and veterans, receive a discount on that rate. Here's a brief video on energy choice and what it cabn mean to utility consumers in our area.

If anyone of my LuLac readers want information on these rates, shoot me an e mail at DYonki@gesc.com with your contact number and I’ll discuss options with you.

McCALL CALLS IT QUITS

State House Speaker Keith R. McCall said this week he would not seek another term in the Legislature. This creates a power vacuum in a chamber embroiled in scandal. McCall, just fifty, said his decision to retire was largely driven by a desire to spend more time with his family. Boy that’s always the fail safe isn’t it? Spend some time with the family. House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, a likely successor if he doesn’t get pinched in Bonusgate praised McCall. “He has represented the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania with great pride and distinction, and has shown an unyielding commitment to working families. He will leave behind a legacy of accomplishments, including advancing significant policies in transportation, consumer affairs, economic development and energy,” said Eachus. The Legislature has been in a continual state of crisis in the year since McCall, of Carbon County, was elected speaker. There have been a series of arrests in the attorney general’s legislative corruption investigation, and budget negotiations, in which he played a central role, were not resolved until more than three months after the July 1 deadline had passed. McCall has been the third House Speaker in just 2 sessions. Preceding him was Dennis O’Brien, a coalition candidate that gave the State House to the Dems in early 2007, prior to that the Speaker was John Perzel, a GOP stalwart now under indictment. Dovetailing on this story is our own local Representative John Yudichak calling for the limiting of years a House of Representatives member can serve in a particular leadership position. Yudichak said the gambit will offer real reform in the Harrisburg. House leaders have served the same leadership position under several governors and Yudichak feels that leaders can sometimes garner too much power. After lawmakers reconvene in Harrisburg on Jan. 25 he is planning on presenting legislation to implement eight-year term limits on House leaders by changing the rules that govern how the House of Representatives operate. These term limits would affect Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Whip, Caucus chairman, Policy chairman, House Secretary and Caucus Administrator.

OFF TO BEANTOWN

Pennsylvania Republican are headed to Boston for the next three days to try and help the GOP wrest the Democratic Senate seat that has been under their control since 1952. The Massachusetts Senate seat was held by John F. Kennedy, then a family friend Ben Smith, then Edward M. Kennedy, and after his passing another family friend of the Kennedy’s, Paul Kirk. In a recent primary Democrats chose Martha Coakley as the successor to the Kennedy "seat". Coakley is in the battle for her political life. Also the Democratic majority in the Senate hangs in the balance. Here's the GOP announcement. With less than 72 hours t the Republican Party of Pennsylvania is doing everything it can to ensure that Republican Scott Brown is victorious on Tuesday! Tomorrow, the PA GOP will be deploying a bus full of seasoned campaigners to help bring Scott Brown’s message of fiscal responsibility and opposition to government-run health care to the Massachusetts voters, but we need YOUR help getting there! The outcome of the Massachusetts U.S. Senate special election will have a major influence on President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s plans for government-run health care, national security and our economic future.

TEDDY PENDERGRAST

Soul singer Teddy Pendergast died this week. Pendergast was with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes but also struck out on his own. Paralyzed in a van crash in the 80s, the singer soldiered on and was an inspiration to many. On this Martin Luther King weekend, here’s one of his best.