For Immediate Release	CONTACT:	Holly Anderson, ext. 114
February 12, 1998		Tara Finck, ext. 116
		(202) 835-3323

KEEP ELECTRIC POWER RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE, APEC TELLS CONGRESS

WASHINGTON....FEBRUARY 12...The Alliance to Protect Electricity Consumers (APEC), a coalition of 28 organizations representing more than 40 million Americans, will hold a Congressional Staff briefing on Thursday, February 12, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. to inform members of the issues surrounding the continuing debate about electric utility deregulation. The briefing will be held in the Rayburn House Office Building, B 369.

Speakers scheduled at the briefing include Linda F. Golodner, President, National Consumers League; Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America; Brent Blackwelder, President, Friends of the Earth; Alan Richardson, Executive Director, American Public Power Association; Richard Trunka, Secretary-Treasury, AFL-CIO; Leland Swenson, President, National Farmers Union; and Glenn English, CEO, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Members of the broad-based alliance will address issues such as:

• Reliability -- Cost cutting and deferring maintenance could result in systems so overloaded that they may not be able to operate efficiently in times of peak demand or storms.

• Cost to consumers -- Electric rates could increase for residential customers and small businesses due to profiteering, temporary shortages and shifting costs from large industrial users to small commercial and residential customers.

• Societal impacts -- Valuable community-based programs, like lifetime rates, low income assistance and wildlife preservation, currently funded by local power companies, could be placed at risk.

• Universal service -- Deregulated electric power companies may not be obligated or motivated to serve low income customers or rural areas.

• Tax revenues -- Currently, electric power companies contribute significantly to the local tax base. Under deregulation, this tax revenue could drop considerably or even dry up.

• Stranded workers -- Qualified workers are losing their jobs and receiving little or nothing in the way of severance pay, retraining or job placement assistance. To assure continued system reliability and safety, every effort should be made to retain electric utility workers.

• Mergers and market dominance -- On going consolidation of existing electric utilities is likely to lead to abuse of economic power and manipulation of energy markets at the expense of consumers.

• Environment -- Environmental and conservation programs implemented by electric power companies could be dropped. Funding for commercialization of renewable resources could be jeopardized.

• Safety -- Worker safety and public safety could be threatened by continued cost cutting.

Speaking about the issues to be discussed at the briefing, Linda F. Golodner, spokesperson for the group said, "Any deregulation plan that does not deal responsibly with these issues should be rejected as not in the interest of all consumers."

Member organizations of the coalition are:

A. Philip Randolph Institute
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Public Power Association
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Consumer Federation of America
Electric Consumers Alliance
Friends of the Earth
Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers
International Association of Machinists
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Maritime Trades Department, AFL-CIO
National Association of Community Action Agencies
National Consumer Law Center
National Consumers League
National Council of Senior Citizens
National Farmers Union
National Rural Community Assistance Program
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union
Public Citizen
Service Employees International Union
United Mineworkers of America
United Steel Workers of America
Utility Workers Union of America